Saturday, September 3, 2011

Christopher A. Carlson, Indiana Grandpa, Charged For Forcing Grandsons On Brutal Grand Canyon Hikes (VIDEO)



Christopher A. Carlson, Indiana Grandpa, Charged For Forcing Grandsons On Brutal Grand Canyon Hikes (VIDEO)

FELICIA FONSECA 09/ 1/11 09:08 PM ET AP
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An Indiana man forced his three young grandsons to hike 18 miles in triple-digit heat at the Grand Canyon and denied them food and water, authorities said. Christopher Carlson, of Indianapolis, remained jailed Thursday on six counts of child abuse. The boys, ages 12, 9 and 8, told investigators that they had been hit, pushed, choked, pinched and squeezed during trips on a popular trail at the canyon's South Rim last month. On the latest hike over the weekend down the Bright Angel Trail, temperatures reached 108 degrees at Phantom Ranch along the Colorado River. A ranger spotted the group with binoculars on the trail and saw Carlson shoving the oldest boy and whipping him with a rolled-up T-shirt, authorities said. National Park Service Special Agent Chris Smith testified that Carlson told authorities that the boys had been overweight and that he thought the hike would get them into shape. "He told me that he loved his grandchildren very much, but at the same time there were tough people in the world and his grandchildren needed to be tough as well," Smith said. Authorities said Carlson tortured and beat the boys, and instructed them to lie to park rangers about any injuries. Rangers and passers-by noted the alleged abuse by Carlson, according to court documents. The boys said Carlson also forced their fingers down their throats, making them vomit. Rangers fed and hydrated the boys inside an ambulance and they were placed in the care of child protective services. One boy had symptoms of heat stroke, while the other two exhibited signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration. The Bright Angel Trail can be deceiving. It starts at the top of the canyon at around 7,000 feet in elevation and drops to 2,400 feet by the river, and the temperature varies widely. The Park Service advises hikers not to make the trip to the river and back in one day. Warning signs are posted at the trailhead and along the trail.
Carlson took the children on the latest hike on Aug. 28. A man died the same day on another trail at the Grand Canyon due to heat exposure.
Defense attorney Luke Mulligan questioned the children's statements, saying it seemed improbable that they could have completed the hike without food and water. He also said the rangers could have removed the children from the canyon had they believed the children were at risk of serious injury or death.
"If the rangers didn't perceive it, are we going to put an extra burden on my client to perceive it?" Mulligan said.
But prosecutors said a ranger was successful in preventing Carlson from reaching the river on an earlier hike on Aug. 15, cooling down the children and giving a heads-up to other authorities in the park. Camille Bibles said Carlson was intent on avoiding rangers during the second trip.
"We're looking at the defendant's actions here, not putting the rangers on trial," she said.
A federal magistrate found probable cause for allegations of child abuse and determined that Carlson, 45, was a flight risk and a danger to children.
The boy's mother, Tara Danaher, of Indianapolis, sobbed at a court hearing Thursday. She said her children went on trips with their grandfather this summer, including to Central America and Jamaica, where they have family friends. The highlight of the latest trip that included the Grand Canyon was supposed to be Disneyland, she said.
Danaher, 28, said she talked with her children throughout the summer and that they never expressed any concerns.
"I don't want to say I can't believe it because anything is possible in this world," she said during breaks in the hearing. "I want to know what the hell happened."
August is the busiest month for search and rescue operations, with heat being the leading contributing factor, according to the Park Service. Of the 286 rescue operations last year, 75 percent of them occurred on the Bright Angel Trail.
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An Indiana man forced his three young grandsons to hike 18 miles in triple-digit heat at the Grand Canyon and denied them food and water, authorities said. Christopher Carlso...
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An Indiana man forced his three young grandsons to hike 18 miles in triple-digit heat at the Grand Canyon and denied them food and water, authorities said. Christopher Carlso...
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Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next › Last » (23 total)
Optiflex
0 Fans
52 minutes ago (7:56 AM)
Is anybody reading this article? Really? The guy's 45, his grandson is 12. What do we have here? A long line of children having children?
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carla777
0 Fans
1 hour ago (7:41 AM)
I think he loves his grandkids, he just went to far this time.
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Jnce
13 Fans
38 minutes ago (8:10 AM)
Wait, there is much more to the story. He 'loved' his daughter so much that there are abuse charges against him (sexual abuse). Then there is more according to reports his daughter is from the half-siste­r of his other daughter, mother of these boys. At least according to court filings in Indianna
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smenow
15 Fans
1 hour ago (7:41 AM)
How in the Hell could any grandparen­t abuse their grandchild­ren like that??? It boggles the mind how cruel some people can be. Thank God that the ranger spotted them and intervened­! This could have had a much more serious outcome. Those children could have died! I pray that they throw the book at this cretin. He should NEVER be allowed near his grandsons alone again!
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Kathryn Gintz
2 Fans
2 hours ago (6:29 AM)
What is wrong with this man? Odds are he was abused as a child. But, if that was my father, he would never be left alone with my children ever. Wonder if he treated his children the same way when they were little. Those kids could have died. Hope they throw the book at him.
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ruzx007
4 Fans
3 hours ago (6:09 AM)
Lets send him to Afganistan­, and use him to sniff out land mines with his feet.
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merindean
42 Fans
3 hours ago (5:54 AM)
Why do I keep hearing the dueling banjos from Deliveranc­e while reading this? MMMMMMMMMM­MMMMMM!!
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syllcurie
34 Fans
3 hours ago (5:28 AM)
This man suffers from delusions of adequacy and ignorance of what being a man is all about.
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wildharleyeyes05
6 Fans
4 hours ago (5:13 AM)
HE IS A SORRY SOB. AND NEEDS TO BE HUNG BY IS BALLS.THE SO CALLED GRANDFATHE­R MUST HAVE BEEN TREATED THE SAME AS A BOY. I DONT GET IT IF MOM AND DAD ARE NOT GOING TO BE ON THIS TRIP I DAM SURE WOULDNT SEND MY KIDS . YOU DONT SEND YOUR KIDS OUT TO ADVENTURE WITH OUT YOU AS PARENTS GOING. THIS FAMILY HAS GOT TO BE MEST UP IN THE HEAD. SOME FUN TRIP THERE MOM, YOU SENT THEM ON THIS TRIP SO YOU HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN STORE FOR THOSE BOY'S. VERY SAD STORY,THER­E'S ALWAYS SOME STORY ABOUT ABUSING KIDS ITS VERY SAD.
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ThisAlreadyHappened
Remember Whitman, Price, and Haddad!!!
135 Fans
4 hours ago (5:13 AM)
You can't get them in shape in one day grandpa. If you want to walk a few miles a day and give them only water and some healthy snacks its one thing. 18 miles with no hydration or food in that kind of heat is a death sentence. The man is either really stupid or really sadistic.
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merindean
42 Fans
3 hours ago (5:49 AM)
I'm voting for sadistic. Heat stroke with one kid, heat exhaustion for the other and what is with this make them vomit thing?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nasknit
Freedom isn't free.
268 Fans
2 hours ago (6:38 AM)
Sounds like Sadism to me!
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melanied0721
34 Fans
2 hours ago (6:47 AM)
and the Defense attorney Luke Mulligan questioned the children's statements­, saying it seemed improbable that they could have completed the hike without food and water. so i guess the EMS made all the heat stroke and heat exhaustion up, i know ppl are allowed to have a fair child but how can lawyers defend ppl who are guilty
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jglalone
23 Fans
40 minutes ago (8:09 AM)
"He cain't be right in the hed!" And, it is a perfect example or the new push the Feds/CDC/N­IH/Mrs Obama are directing toward eliminatin­g childhood obesity. Our government doesn't want to get involved in regulating business practiced to ensure fair and just treatment of clients/cu­stomers, but they want to dictate the care of our children..­..Diabesit­y, HPV vaccinatio­ns for felmale children (without any knowledge of the long term effects), demand for multitude of vaccinaton (as many as 3-5 in one day) without knowledge of the long term effects and without knowledge of the child's health, especially whether or not a child has autoimmune disorders (may not show until later in life, unless you pump them with foreign matter....­.in autoimmune disease foreign matter brings on an attack that cannot tell the difference between foreign matter and self). Conclusion­: The campaign this man has heard incessantl­y on t.v. convinced him, in his ignorance, to abuse the boys thin......­.bet it is happening a lot!
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migwee
5 Fans
4 hours ago (4:37 AM)
good training
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
madjanssen
Neurotic mother of one displaced in Europe
19 Fans
5 hours ago (4:00 AM)
If he wanted to toughen them up and helped their weight issues, they could have just gone jogging together, played football, baseball, basketball­, go swimming - so many other activities he could have done and instead he took them hiking in that heat! Clearly, some people just don't use common sense when it comes to dealing with young children.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ioan Lightoller
Proud Married Gay Pagan Man
2572 Fans
5 hours ago (3:47 AM)
Toss this b*****d in prison and throw away the key!! What sick, sadistic f***k takes kids on hikes in triple digit temperatur­es, doesn't give them water and tortures them?! This is child abuse, pure and simple. No pity whatsoever for this SOB.
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merindean
42 Fans
3 hours ago (5:51 AM)
It doesn't say who's father the grandfathe­r is the parent of, but you have to wonder what their childhood was like.
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2tru4u2c
96 Fans
5 hours ago (3:31 AM)
Being the 1st born son of a 1st born son, I am 38 years removed from my paternal grandparen­ts. Either these kids are the result of 2 generation­s of mid teen parents or this guy might be a step (grand)par­ent. That, sadly, might explain a lot.
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noworriesdee
7 Fans
3 hours ago (6:10 AM)
I'm a step-grand­parent and adore my grandchild­ren and love them as if they were my own blood. Being a step doesn't mean everyone is this way...good grief 2tru4u2c..­.
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dewdew48
0 Fans
48 minutes ago (8:00 AM)
Don't make excuses for this kind of behavior. I know someone who is an adult now, was abused as a child, lived in filth, deprived of eating, and turned out absolutely perfect, in my opinion. It doesn't matter how old you are when you have a child, or what kind of culture you come from, I was 17 when I had my first child, and my children are all grown, happily married with children, and talk about their childhood all of the time, and how happy it was, and I was glad I had my children at a young age. Age has nothing to do with it, or being a step parent, or grandparen­t either.. People are cruel, and treat children like crap. Watch the news. Every day someone brutally kills a child, and I mean every day. This does not explain anything. Child abuse is child abuse, and their is no excuse for someone doing this to a child!!
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tannervin
0 Fans
5 hours ago (3:23 AM)
Let's see... Grandpa is 45, Mom is 28 and oldest kid is 12. That means he was a father at 17, she was a mom at 16. Too young to be parents apparently also results in too young to be grandparen­ts. Or, maybe it just means the whole family is stupid. Poor kids don't have a chance, and the oldest one will probably be abusing his own kid in 3 or 4 years.
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stupidpeopleallaroundme
13 Fans
6 hours ago (3:03 AM)
What a screwed up family..he­s a grandfathe­r at 45 and the oldest boy is 12..which means the grandfathe­r had the mother/fat­her of the boys when he was 17 or 16 and then the parents of the boys couldn't have been much older then that either when they had the first boy. With the way this family is going this "Grandfath­er" could be great great great grand daddy at some point..
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