<p>Three people have been arrested after authorities accused them of severely beating and shackling a 10-year-old boy.</p><p>Michael Harvey Estes, 44; Robbin Strobridge, 27, and Leonard Walton, 31, were charged Sunday with first-degree cruelty to children, said Richmond County sheriff's investigator Steve Fanning.</p><p>Police were called to a hospital Saturday night after Sheryl Phillips brought her son, Damian Bell, to the emergency room. Phillips told police the boy had been staying at her sister's house.</p><p>The beating came after family members caught Damian doing something with a 6-year-old girl they thought was inappropriate, Fanning said. Fanning said it was not clear whether the activity was sexual or just hugging.</p><p>Strobridge, Damian's aunt, paddled the boy while her fiance, Walton, got two sets of handcuffs and shackled the boy's wrists and ankles.</p><p>Afterward, Damian was taken to a hair salon, Fanning said. The mother of the 6-year-old girl spanked the boy with a switch and then called her husband, Estes, to spank him. Fanning said Estes lifted Damian by his ankles, turned him upside down and hit him.</p><p>The boy told police Estes had also rammed his face into a car, Fanning said.</p><p>Damian suffered a large bruise to his face and swelling and bruising to his wrists and ankles, Fanning said. There was also tissue damage in his buttocks and welts along his arms.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2866460)</p>
