Grandparents Arrested After Beating And Starving Boy, Leaving Him With Muscle Damage

A couple of step-grandparents in Ohio are in jail after participating in vicious punishments that their daughter inflicted upon her stepson. The young boy was treated so poorly that he now suffers from “atrophy in his legs” and PTSD.

“If there’s a victim of this type of abuse, it’s tragic. And when you have somebody that’s vulnerable, like a child or the elderly, it makes you sick,” a police spokesperson said.

Armin and Susan Rodriguez, 71 and 68, were both taken into custody at the Hamilton County Jail on child endangerment charges.

The child, 13, is said to have been punished by standing in a room by himself for hours. He was also beaten and not given food at times.

“He was not allowed to urinate unless he was given permission by mom prior or by grandmother. And he was not allowed to eat the same things everyone else would eat,” the spokesperson added. The boy was also beaten with a wooded spoon as he was tied to a bed.

Because of the abuse, the child now walks with a limp, experiences extensive pain, and has been emotionally impacted.

The investigation came about after charges were pressed against the victim’s father and stepmother as there were claims of abuse like that from another department.

Court documents also note that Amy Rodriguez Dangel, 45, has been charged with 11 counts of child endangerment. This was after claims that she “recklessly tortured or cruelly abused” the boy from January 2018 to April 2021. Her spouse and the child’s father, Anthony Dangel, 43, have been charged with violating the child’s duty of care.

The step-grandparents were indicted by a grand jury and will appear in court again on June 3.