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    Trial to start in forced Grand Canyon hikes

    PHOENIX (AP) — A federal trial is set to begin Wednesday for an Indiana man accused of forcing his grandsons to hike for miles in the Grand Canyon without food or water in brutal August heat.

    Christopher Alan Carlson, of Indianapolis, who is in his mid-40s, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of child abuse.

    His grandsons, who were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time, told investigators that Carlson hit, pushed, choked, and squeezed them, and forced their fingers down their throats to make them vomit during trips into the Grand Canyon.

    A ranger with binoculars spotted the group on what would be the last of the hikes on Aug. 28, when the temperature soared to 108 degrees and a man died on another trail from heat exposure. The ranger reported seeing 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, authorities said. The boys were placed in the care of state Child Protective Services.

    Investigators say Carlson told them that the boys were overweight and that he thought hiking the Grand Canyon would help 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," National Park Service Special Agent Chris Smith said at the time.

    Defense attorneys have questioned the boys' statements, saying it seemed improbable that they could have gone on such a hike without food and water.

    The boys' mother, Tara Danaher of Indianapolis, sobbed at a court hearing Sept. 1 and said her children went on trips with Carlson over the summer, including to Central America and Jamaica.

    She said she talked with her children throughout the summer and they never expressed any concerns.

    The highlight of the latest trip that included the Grand Canyon was supposed to be Disneyland, she said.

    ___

    Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP

     

    53 comments

    • DSAVAGE666  •  Sacramento, California  •  3 mths ago
      If the guy is a grandfather to a 12 year od and is only in his mid-40's that explains a lot...
    • .  •  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania  •  3 mths ago
      How is this man old enough to have a 12 year old grandson?
      • Pat 3 mths ago
        kids havin kids
    • Walnut  •  3 mths ago
      Getting kids into shape is understandable. The Grand Canyon, with no food or water in August is no place for that goal. He made a terrible decision to put his children in that position.
    • rat  •  3 mths ago
      He fancies himself as a tough guy. Abusing 12 year olds is the only way he can feed his ego. Once he gets to prison, the real tough guys will have a new girlfriend.
    • Tammi Tuttle  •  3 mths ago
      Let's do the math. Say the guy is 45 years old...and he has a 12 year old GRANDchild? So his daughter/son started having kids at age 15-ish?
      • Keri 3 mths ago
        good job with the math! and your high school biology. The only thing missing is your point. what might that be?
      • Mac 3 mths ago
        Keri, they're point is that having a kid 15 years of age is utterly stupid. No experience and no money. Now, Keri, tell me what 0+0 is! It's your I.Q.!
    • George  •  3 mths ago
      This man is warped.
    • Ricardo Stone  •  3 mths ago
      Gee granpa...I think I am going to die of heatsroke. - Toughen up kid.
    • Old Geezer  •  3 mths ago
      What a POS! Why was he ever allowed to Breed or for that matter been Bred?
    • amberrose  •  3 mths ago
      The photo they provided is 6 years old and looks like a mug shot. I'm curious what his rap sheet looks like.
    • RockJumper  •  Highlands, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      Let's see, hypothetically, if he first had sex at 16, and say the baby came when he was 17. Then the baby, his daughter, had sex at 16, and had a baby at 17, and he's say----45 now, that means the grandson would be 11 now, right? 17 plus 17 equal 34. 34 subtracted form 45 leaves 11. Some mighty young baby daddy stuff going on there. So much for for the millions we spent teaching sex education in schools.
      • LifeonEarth 3 mths ago
        Like Sarah Palin's daughter, what's her name, Buffy?
    • Bradly  •  3 mths ago
      Killing a kid will "toughen" his hide right up. Lay off the steroids and quit watching UFC dude... these are just little kids
    • momster  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      I have to laugh at the defense attorneys remarks. I guess the whole case revolves around the abuse of the situation, duh. Don't you just love lawyers.
    • Robert B  •  3 mths ago
      Two tours on the Mekong Delta will do the trick.
    • Mark  •  San Mateo, California  •  3 mths ago
      Wonder how many rotations he did in Iraq.
    • Leslie  •  3 mths ago
      Uh..the guy is in his 40's with a grandson who was 12 at the time...this story is a year or two old now so the kid is a teenager. WTH.
      • LifeonEarth 3 mths ago
        Just about to ask if anyone was doing the Math on the ages here!
    • BryanT  •  3 mths ago
      I'd like to see him hike in and out with no water. That should be his punishment, mid-August.
    • Cynic  •  3 mths ago
      Were those step grandsons? I was 46 ,before I became a grandfather.
      • LifeonEarth 3 mths ago
        Way too young you were.....promiscuous children.
    • Drunken Joe Biden  •  Mobile, Alabama  •  3 mths ago
      How much do you want to bet that some of his new friends will help toughen him up?
    • TrueBlue  •  Topeka, Kansas  •  3 mths ago
      I guess he can kiss that "Father of the Year" award adios.....!!!
    • Russell  •  3 mths ago
      There are tough people in the world. He will meet them in prison.
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