A father accused of locking his young son inside a wooden box was found not guilty Thursday, according to NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston.
Investigators said the boy was forced to live in a particle board box measuring 8-by-6-feet with a pair of locks outside, according to the station. Wieseckel has claimed that he kept his son in the box so he wouldn't break things. A jury on Thursday found David Wieseckel of Galveston not guilty of three counts of injury to a child and one count of unlawful restraint.
"There was a room that was built for him so that he wouldn't damage windows and walls and wood," Wieseckel said in 2012, according to the station. "It was his bedroom. He had everything in there. He had everything -- blankets and bed -- and he damaged it all."
The Galveston Daily News has reported the boy has been diagnosed with multiple mood and personality disorders, and that Wieseckel's lawyers described the boy as uncontrollable.
Wieseckel, a father of four, relinquished his parental rights, and the boy, who is now 11, was placed in the custody of Children's Protective Services. The boy's mother lost custody of him in 2008 after she was arrested on a drunk driving charge, the station reported.
