PHOENIX (AP) — The 9-year-old grandson of an Indiana man says he experienced cramping, nausea and hunger during a miles-long hike at the Grand Canyon in brutal heat last summer.
But the boy also told an Arizona jury Wednesday that he was given food and water and that his grandfather took him and his two brothers on many "awesome" adventurous trips.
Christopher Alan Carlson of Indianapolis is charged with six counts of child abuse stemming from two long hikes at the Grand Canyon in August. The 45-year-old's trial began in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The criminal complaint against Carlson says the boys told investigators that Carlson hit, pushed and choked them repeatedly and kicked them with his steel-toed boots during the hikes.
The boys were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time.
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