GLENDALE, AZ – On June 8, police arrested Mto Assa, 37, after his 14-year-old stepson managed to run to a neighbor's apartment, after his sister unties the rope on one of his feet. His hands were still tied behind his back.
12 News reported:
The boy told officers that his stepfather had tied his hands behind his back and bound his ankles and then connected the ropes together and that he was struck and physically assaulted by Assa...[He} allegedly said during the assault that he would keep the boy tied up for the next year.
Assa admitted to tying the teen up with ropes, but denied beating him during the ordeal.
However, a medical examination of the victim found that his injuries were consistent with his description of the assault.
Assa was charged with child abuse, aggravated assault and unlawful imprisonment, and booked into the Maricopa County Jail. He has since been released on bond.
*Mto Assa came to this country from the Ivory Coast, and was charged with assault with intent to injure, in Phoenix, on April 19, 2018.
