Mom made boy stand naked in cold, police say

updated 2:32 p.m. ET Feb. 9, 2007

WILMINGTON, Del. - A mother accused of forcing her 10-year-old son to stand naked in subfreezing temperatures outside his home as punishment was arrested and charged with child endangerment, police said.

Authorities said Simone Roundtree, 30, called police to report having trouble with her son and wanted him removed from the home near Newark.

Roundtree and another woman told police they forced the boy to strip and stand outside “because they wanted him to see how cold it really was out there,” said New Castle County Police Cpl. Trinidad Navarro.

Roundtree and Katrina Batista, 27, were arrested at their home Wednesday. Both women were charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. Roundtree was held on $2,000 bail, and Batista was released on $8,000 bail. No phone number could be located in the area for either woman.

The boy was taken into state custody.

Navarro said the boy had been forced to sleep on a box spring on a basement floor and had a bucket for a toilet.

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