In April, Euharlee police announced the arrests of Christopher Alan Leslie, 31, and Heather Leigh Leslie, 33, both of 58 River Oaks Drive, after the investigation, which included the execution of search warrants. At that time police said the alleged acts, which occurred between March 14 and 29, were detrimental to the health and well-being of the child.
The case was recently placed on the criminal jury trial docket in Bartow County Superior Court, and defense attorney Kelley Dial asked Superior Court Judge Scott Smith to continue it past last week's round of jury trials. Court documents indicate Christopher Leslie is charged with three counts of first-degree cruelty to children, three counts of second-degree cruelty to children and three counts of false imprisonment, while Heather Leslie is charged as a party to the crime on each of those counts.
The indictment and arrest warrants allege the couple locked the boy in a "small, confined" wooden container with "inadequate ventilation" twice in two days, March 28 and 29, the latter causing bruising on the 7-year-old's right arm and knee. Prior to those suspected incidents, between March 14 and 28, the couple allegedly bound the boy in a sleeping bag, forcing him to eat cayenne pepper.
Heather Leslie has been released from jail on a $40,000 bond, while Christopher Leslie is incarcerated at the Bartow County jail, according to court records.