Feb. 25--A South Side man has been charged with child endangerment after making his 11-year-old son stand naked outside their home to teach him a lesson about jail, according to police.
A city worker called 911 after finding the boy outside about 8:55 a.m. Wednesday in the 7800 block of South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood, police said. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center to be checked out.
Police came to the door, arrested the man and charged him with misdemeanor child endangerment.
The boy's father told the Tribune his son had been acting out at school and had gotten into trouble recently. He said he wanted to teach him what jail felt like, so he grabbed his son as he was getting ready for a bath and forced him outside.
"You see how cold it is with no clothes on? That's how cold it is in jail,'' he said he told his son. "I'm just trying to show him that he can't go around doing this."
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it is investigating the father for alleged neglect and abuse. Agency spokeswoman Veronica Resa said there has been no prior contact with the family. Another child lives in the home but has not been removed, she said.
