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Court Docs: 7-Year-Old Buried Alive In 'Coffin Of Snow' For Not Knowing Bible Verses

MANITOWOC, Wis. (CBS Local) -- Bail was set Monday for a Wisconsin couple and their teenage son in the death of a 7-year-old boy who was allegedly beaten, forced to carry around a heavy log and buried in snow for not memorizing 13 Bible verses.

Timothy and Tina Hauschultz and their 15-year-old boy, Damian, were charged Friday in connection with the Apr. 18, 2018, death of Ethan Hauschultz, CBS affiliate WFRV reported.

Timothy, 48, ordered Ethan, who weighed 60 pounds, to carry a 45-pound log for hours at a time around the family's snow-covered back yard as punishment for not memorizing Bible verses, according to a criminal complaint. He ordered his teen son to supervise the discipline, authorities said.

The teen told detectives he hit Ethan 100 times, sometimes with a belt or a stick, rolled the log across Ethan's chest, stood on his body and head while Ethan was face-down in a puddle and packed the child under approximately 80 pounds of snow for 20 to 30 minutes, the complaint states.

The teen described using a shovel to pile snow on top of Ethan and using the back of the blade to pack it tight around the boy so he "was in his own little of coffin of snow," the document said.

Ethan died from hypothermia and blunt force injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, according to the sheriff's office.

Ethan and his two siblings were put in the Hauschultzes' care in 2017.

Damian Hauschultz is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, physical abuse of a child intentionally causing bodily harm, and substantial battery. Bail was set for him $150,000.

Timothy Hauschultz is charged with party to the crimes of felony murder, intent to contribute to the delinquency of a child resulting in death, physical abuse of a child intentionally causing bodily harm, and misdemeanor battery. A judge set bond at $100,000 in his case.

McKeever-Hauschultz, 35, is charged with being party to the crimes of contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death and failing to act to prevent bodily harm to a child. Bail was set for her at $75,000.

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