Parents whip 5-year-old son for coloring outside lines on homework, Kentucky cops say

Two parents are accused of torturing their 5-year-old son, including whipping him for coloring outside the lines on a homework assignment, Kentucky authorities say.

The Middlesboro Police Department said Ricky North, 27, and Nichole North, 24, face several charges, including criminal abuse. Ricky North is the child’s father and Nichole North is his stepmother.

While in their care, the boy was subjected to “torture, cruel confinement and cruel punishment,” police said in a March 30 news release.

The parents are accused of duct taping the boy’s arm and legs and intentionally giving him cold showers as a form of punishment. They also punched and slapped the boy in the head and face, as well as “choking and body slamming him,” police said.

Police said the boy was whipped for coloring outside the lines on homework and was also held by his ankles by his parents, who slammed his head onto the ground.

The Norths were charged with first-degree criminal abuse, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree strangulation and failure to report child neglect or abuse, according to police.

Court records show they were arraigned March 31 and jailed on $100,000 bonds.

Middlesboro is about a 135-mile drive southeast from Lexington.

This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 8:25 AM.