Slain boy fed ‘dungeon diet’

Prosecutors on Thursday detailed the horrific conditions surrounding a 12-year-old boy in Crete, Illinois, who authorities say was chronically abused by his caretaker Fred Johnson II, who has been charged with the boy’s beating death. Other children in the home said that the boy was routinely tied to his bed, and given a “dungeon diet” which caused the boy to lose 28 pounds in 8 months.

Johnson, who is charged with murder, aggravated battery of a child and unlawful restraint, allegedly beat Kevin five times on July 18, 2008. One child in the home told authorities that Johnson hit Kevin “very hard over and over in the face” and that the boy was “screaming and crying” before Johnson found him on the floor and struck him again, causing the boy’s body to “bounce up from the floor,” according to a court filing.

Kevin died two days later at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Johnson, who told authorities the boy slipped in a bathtub, is being held on $5 million bail.