A Moscow father faces up to seven years in prison for handcuffing his 17-year-old son to a radiator as punishment for smoking synthetic marijuana, police said.
The son dialed the 02 police hotline around 1:30 p.m. Sunday to report that he had been handcuffed to a radiator since Saturday night and had not been given anything to eat or drink during that time.
Police officers dispatched to the family's apartment on Aminyevskoye Shosse in southwestern Moscow were greeted at the door by the teen's older brother, who let them in, police said.
"It was established during the course of the investigation that the father had caught his son smoking so-called "Spice" (a smoking blend of natural and synthetic substances) the night before and handcuffed him to the radiator," police said in a statement.
Spice is a generic trademark for a synthetic marijuana that offers a high that may be hundreds of times more intense than that of the drug it's designed to mimic.
Police said they also learned that the son, a member of Russia's Olympic reserve team, had run away from home twice to escape his father's abuse.
Police did not identify the father or son.
An investigation has been opened, and police were considering filing charges of torture against the father. If charged and convicted of torturing a minor, he could be jailed for up to seven years.
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