Note: Throughout the following direct quotes from various sources will be presented in Bold.
Commentary of the Editors of Bubbaworld will appear in Italic.

Playing "Catch" - Okie Style

One of the most outlandish examples of Okie Discipline came to light in a Tulsa World report titled, "Authorities Shocked Over Abuse of Disabled Boy; Five Charged"

This news report, dated 5/12/01, revealed that a 13-year-old developmentally disabled boy in Bartlesville, Oklahoma was hog-tied to a tree and hit with balls, fists and spraying water while family members and friends videotaped the action.

The report went on to indicate that one of the five people charged with child abuse was the boy's 29 year old mother. The other four charged were two men and two women, friends of the boy's mother.

Quoting from the referenced news report:

Bartlesville Police Lt. Steve Johnson said detectives "were quite taken back" when they viewed the 40-minute videotape showing the victim tied up and struggling on the front yard in a busy neighborhood between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday while the adults taunted him and cars drove past.

What is both most telling and disheartening is that over the course of four hours, not a single passer-by saw fit to either intervene in the boy's behalf or at a minimum call the local police department to report the on-going child abuse. The sad but true fact is that in Oklahoma many people tend to turn a blind eye to child abuse. Although no one witnessing this shocking abuse had the initiative to intervene or call the police to stop it, someone evidently did contact the Department of Human Services later to report it. The case was reported to the police department by DHS employees.

Quoting further from the same report:

In a court affidavit, Detective Diane Young said the victim told her that Richter and Cy Zezza tied him to a tree in the front yard on Brookline in east Bartlesville and struck him with tennis balls and a basketball they threw at him.

The boy had a rope burn on his left shoulder and three rope burns on his abdomen when he was interviewed by child welfare authorities, they said.

The videotape, seized by police, shows the victim crying in pain and tied with rope at his hands and feet. At one point, his attackers picked up the screaming boy by his hands and feet.

Several times the boy was sprayed in the face with a water gun. The video also shows Cy Zezza punching the victim, according to a court affidavit.

The victim additionally told police that Richter tied him by the hands and feet to the back bumper of his new blue pickup and took photographs and videotape of him there, the affidavit stated.

Police said Richter told them that he tied the victim to a tree but said his hands were free and that they were playing catch with him, the court affidavit stated. Richter later told police he was punishing the boy "for cussing in his house," according to the affidavit.

The report further indicated that when detectives served a search warrant at the residence they discovered the videotape, rope, balls, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. They also discovered the video camera set up on a tripod in the living room and pointing out a window toward the front yard.

On 4/2/2002 the Tulsa World published a report titled, "Abuse case dismissal asked". Quoting from that report:

Five Bartlesville residents are seeking dismissal of child abuse charges against them, claiming that no real injury occurred when they allegedly tied a 13-year-old developmentally disabled boy to a tree and hit him with rubber balls, fists and sprays of water while family members videotaped the incident.

Tulsa attorney Rabon Martin argued in district court documents for dismissal of charges. His motion said the Oklahoma Child Abuse Reporting and Prevention Act was "unconstitutionally vague" and did not prove that the boy, Kyle Frakes, was injured during the incident.

Martin represents Robert James Richter, 32, and Cy Lewis Zezza, 22, both of whom were released from jail last week after their bails were reduced to $10,000 from $100,000. They had been in jail for 10 months.

Update: On 9/23/2002 in Washington County District Court in Bartlesville, three of the accused pleaded no-contest in the case. Robert James Richter and Cy Louis Zezza pleaded no contest to charges of child abuse. The boy's mother, Angel Christina Frakes pleaded no contest to a charge of permitting abuse to a child. The District Attorney's office recommended a 5 year sentence for each of the three. Child abuse charges against Rebecca Lynne Zezza and Nina Yvonne Vasquez were dropped.

Update: On 11/15/2002, Washington County District Judge John Lanning sentenced Robert James Richter, age 33, and Cy Louis Zezza, age 23, to five years in prison. Angel Christina Frakes, age 30 and the mother of the victim of the case was sentenced to two years in prison. The sentences followed no contest pleas entered earlier by the defendants. Oklahoma Department of Corrections records are available on those sentenced in this case and may be viewed at the following URLs:

Robert James Richter
Cy Louis Zezza
Angel Christina Frakes

Update: On 12/12/02, Judge Lanning modified the sentence he earlier imposed upon Angel Christina Frakes, modifying the two year prison sentence to a two year suspended sentence, probation and mandatory parenting classes. The judge also denied a request from defendants Richter and Zezza to withdraw their earlier no contest pleas, set aside their five year sentences and proceed to a jury trial.

We at Bubbaworld hope that when you play "catch" with children, it doesn't involve tying them to a tree or a pickup truck, and then throwing things at them, punching them out or spraying them with water. If it does and you are not already a resident of Bartlesville, Oklahoma you might wish to consider re-locating there, as most folks seem to consider this form of playing "catch" not that unusual.

Special Note:

On 1/19/03, the Webmaster of Bubbaworld received an e-mail from an individual purporting to be Brett Gaston and taking great issue with our reporting of this case. A verbatim copy of that e-mail is Available Here . Our reply to Mr. Gaston is Available Here .

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those interested in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.