Kenosha Man Charged for Hanging Nephew from Drying-Line Pole

Discipline or mental harm to a child? That's the argument happening between the Kenosha authorities and a man accused of hanging his nephew from a pole in a backyard.

The suspect is 25-year-old De'arro McKenziee. He is accused of taking his four-year-old nephew by the hood of a sweatshirt and hooking him to a pole as punishment.

It happened two weeks ago, according to court documents.

McKenzi has since been charged with causing mental harm to a child and disorderly conduct. The criminal complaint outlines what neighbors saw: McKenzie lifting the his nephew onto the 6-and-a-half-foot-tall pole and talking to the child in a stern tone for having an accident - going to the bathroom - in his clothes.
Neighbors also took video of what happened and provided that evidence to police, according to court documents.

McKenzie reportedly told neighbors that he was doing it because the child was  “afraid of heights and he was trying to scare him”.

A Kenosha County Juvenile Crisis worker inspected the child and found he was uninjured, according to the criminal complaint.

The child's mother also defended what happened by saying McKenzie - in the past - had also hung other children from the pole. It was not always as punishment but also because the children thought it was fun, according to court documents.

McKenzie has another court date later this month.