PHOENIX (AP) — A boy testified Thursday that his grandfather did give him and his two brothers food and water before taking them on two hikes into the Grand Canyon — “but not a lot.”
The middle grandson of Christopher Alan Carlson told jurors at his grandfather’s trial that the worst part of the trip was when he threw up at the bottom of the canyon and the pain from blisters on his feet.
Mr. Carlson, 45, of Indianapolis is charged with six counts of felony child abuse and faces life in prison if convicted. The trial opened in federal court in Phoenix on Wednesday and resumed Thursday.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Carlson deprived his grandsons of food and water and pushed, choked and repeatedly kicked them during hikes on Aug. 15 and 28, when the temperature soared to 108 degrees.
Prosecutor Camille Bibles told jurors Wednesday that the boy got the blisters on the first hike and that they hadn’t fully healed by the second hike.
She also said the blisters were so bad at the end of the second hike that they had turned into ulcers. The boy had to undergo treatment usually reserved for burn patients and couldn’t wear shoes for weeks, Ms. Bibles said.
The boy said that when he and his brothers got into trouble, their grandfather took it out on them physically and told them not to tell anyone about it.
“He said if we told about the bad stuff, he would get mad at us,” he said. “He would smack us and stuff.”
But under questioning from defense attorney Jeffrey Williams, the boy said he loved his grandpa and knows his grandpa loves him back, and that he took the boys to the Grand Canyon for exercise, not as a punishment.
The boy’s younger brother testified Wednesday that the boys were kicked during the scorching hikes and that his grandfather also hit him in the face, causing a nosebleed.
Under questioning from Ms. Bibles, the boy also said that Mr. Carlson would pinch pressure points in their back that “kinda hurt” during the hike up from the Grand Canyon.
“We would slow down because we were kind of exhausted. He started kicking us and telling us we had to hurry,” he said, adding that the eldest brother “kept falling and he had cramps and his stomach started hurting on the way out.”
A criminal complaint said Mr. Carlson put his grandsons — who were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time — in circumstances “likely to cause death or serious bodily injuries.”
But investigators also have said Carlson told them the boys were overweight and he thought hiking the Grand Canyon would help get them into shape.
Mr. Williams portrayed Mr. Carlson as an active health nut who had a firm hand and wanted to show the boys the world. Like anyone after a long hike, the boys were tired, hungry and thirsty, but Mr. Carlson only allowed the boys to eat healthy food such as tofu, hummus and veggie burgers, Mr. Williams said in his opening statement.
“I suppose to an 8-, 9- or 10-year-old, that might seem like child abuse if you like cheeseburgers, french fries and pizza,” he said. “He wanted to get them from behind the TV, the games and fast food.”
The 9-year-old, the youngest of the three brothers, testified Wednesday that he experienced cramping, nausea and hunger during the miles-long treks.
But he also told jurors that his grandfather took the boys on many “awesome” adventurous trips. In between the two hikes, Mr. Carlson took the boys on a tour of the Hoover Dam, to rides atop the Stratosphere hotel and a Criss Angel magic show in Las Vegas, and to Disneyland in California.
Jurors smiled as the boy also spoke of trips to Mexico, Belize and Honduras and across the American West last summer with Mr. Carlson and his two older brothers. The trips often included long hikes, swimming and fishing in the ocean, and thrill rides at amusement parks.
Although investigators have said Mr. Carlson withheld food and water, the boy testified that he and his brothers were allowed to drink water most of the time and snacked on celery, carrots, tofu and low-carb hummus during the hikes.
The criminal complaint said one brother feared that another brother would fall to his death because Mr. Carlson forced him to walk on the edge of the trail. Another brother said Mr. Carlson picked him up by the throat and threw him to the ground, and another said Mr. Carlson slammed his face into a rock, the complaint said
Investigators said the boys were covered in cuts, bruises and scars that backed up their stories. But Mr. Williams told jurors Wednesday that the injuries “are consistent with boys who are just normal boys” who had an especially active summer.
“There’s nothing life-threatening about a blister,” Mr. Williams said. “If these kids were abused, they were abused by kindness and all the fun and trips they took over the summer.”
A ranger with binoculars spotted the group during their 19-mile hike on Aug. 28, the same day a man died on another trail from heat exposure. The ranger reported seeing Mr. Carlson shoving the oldest boy and whipping him with a rolled-up T-shirt.
Rangers fed the boys and gave them water after one showed symptoms of heat stroke and the other two had signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Under questioning from Mr. Williams, the boy said the kicking didn’t hurt much most of the time and that he often gets nosebleeds for no reason. He also said his grandfather was in a hurry on the Aug. 28 hike to get to the top of the Grand Canyon so they could watch the sunset together.
But Ms. Bibles said in her opening statement that Mr. Carlson used the Grand Canyon as a weapon in his abuse of his grandsons.
“These hikes became a life-or-death situation for these children at the hands of the person that was supposed to be protecting them,” she said.
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