A Wisconsin man has pleaded not guilty to a charge of chronic child neglect in the missing persons case of 3-year-old Elijah Vue, who vanished two months ago.
Jesse Vang, 39, reported Vue missing on Feb. 20 while the boy was in his care. Vang is the boyfriend of Vue’s mother, Katrina B. Baur, who also faces a felony charge of being party-to-a-crime child neglect, as well as two misdemeanour counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
Vang, who is the last person to have seen Vue, appeared for an arraignment at Manitowoc County Courthouse on Tuesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Vue was staying with Vang, 39, for a week prior to his disappearance because the toddler’s mother allegedly asked Vang to teach her son “to be a man,” police reported.
According to a criminal complaint, while Vue was at Vang’s Two Rivers, Wisc. home, he instructed the boy to stand next to his bed and pray as a form of punishment. Vang told police he eventually fell asleep around 8 a.m. local time with Vue in the room.
When he woke up three hours later, Vang said Vue was gone. He called police just before 11 a.m. local time on Feb. 20 to report Vue missing.
FULL STORY: https://globalnews.ca/news/10432234/elijah-vue-jesse-vang-not-guilty-child-neglect-missing-wisconsin/
