Mom's boyfriend arrested in Kansas City closet abuse case
Posted: 07.20.2012 at 2:32 PM

The 10-year-old girl found in an apartment closet weighed only 32 pounds

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Police have arrested the boyfriend of a woman whose 10-year-old daughter weighed just 32 pounds when she was found locked in a closet at a Kansas City apartment.

Police Sgt. Stacey Graves says Marcus R. Benson was arrested Thursday in Independence, Mo. He was charged July 11 with two counts of child endangerment.

The girl's mother has been charged with assault, child abuse and child endangerment. The AP isn't naming the mother to protect the girl's identity.

Authorities responding to a call to a child abuse hotline found the malnourished girl June 22. She was barricaded inside a closet that reeked of urine.

Benson told police he hadn't seen the girl in a year. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.