The independent reports...

A woman was arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he had spent most of the past four years locked in a wardrobe.

A security guard at a National Guard building in Oklahoma City called police on Friday after the teenager turned up malnourished and with scars and other signs of abuse, police spokesman Gary Knight said.

"He was hungry. He was dirty. He had numerous scars on his body," Mr Knight said. "It was very sad."

The boy was taken to a hospital to be examined and then turned over to the custody of the Department of Human Services.

After police interviews, officers arrested the boy's mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Formal charges have not been filed.

The teenager, wearing only a pair of oversized shorts held up by a belt, walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility on Friday afternoon and asked where a police station was located so he could report being abused, according to a police report.

He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire. Other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked, the boy told police.

The story continues with this sad note

He told police the wardrobe door was mostly blocked with a stepladder or a bed and that he managed to push the door open enough to escape and leave the house.