Las Cruces Parents Allegedly Forced Children To Walk Several Miles Home

Walking miles through the desert.

That is what Las Cruces Police said two parents forced their teenagers to do. Police said it was not hiking, but an extreme form of punishment.

Police said 52-year-old Chereyl Coffelt and 58 year old David Coffelt regularly punished their 14 and 15 year old sons by doing this.

?They actually walked through the desert, through arroyos, through the bushes and weeds, through sand, over rough terrain and with very little provisions,? Dan Trujillo, Las Cruces Police Department Spokesperson, said. ?They were typical 14 to 15 year olds and I don?t think there?s anything specific the kids did to warrant this punishment.?

Each parent is charged with one count of intentional and negligent child abuse. But a close family friend, who asked not to be identified, said she is certain the Coffelts would never do anything to hurt their teenage sons.

?I?m just shocked at this period,? a family friend said. ?I can?t imagine it happening, ever.?

The family friend says it is ?very likely? the boys may have made something like this up as a way to retaliate against their parents.

“I’ve been in the home and they’ve never raised a hand at those kids ever, ever, ever,” a family friend said.

But investigators said the boys told them that on at least three occasions the Coffelts drove them near the Organ Mountains, a distance ABC-7 tracked at about 9 miles.

Police said one of the boys told them their dad dropped them off in the middle of the afternoon and said, ?Walk home.? Police say the boys told them they were left with only a bottle of water and a burrito.

Through rugged desert conditions, police said it took them nearly four hours to find their way back to the city.

Once inside their home on Missouri, one of the boys told police David punched him several times in the face, while Chereyl hit him on the back of his head.

It was then the boys escaped to a neighbor?s house and called for help saying we?re ?frustrated and want some freedom.?

“It just wouldn’t have happened, it’s not for real. They’re not violent people, they’re sweet, kind people,? a family friend said. ?I think that Cherri and David need to be home, they don’t need to be in jail; it’s not where they belong at all.”

Police say the boys told them they were also forced to strip down each night and told they had to earn their clothes back.

The boys also allege they were locked in their bedroom, in the dark, where they slept on the floor with only a blanket.

The teenagers are now in state custody.