The U.S. Supreme Court will not review the child abuse conviction of an Indiana man who forced his grandsons to take a grueling hike through the Grand Canyon.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Christopher Carlson’s argument that the evidence in the case was not sufficient to convict him on three counts of child abuse and that the jury that heard his case had not been properly instructed.
Carlson was accused of beating the boys, who at the time were ages 8, 9 and 12, making them walk on ulcerated blisters, denying them adequate food and water, and forcing them to run up the trail in August 2011, when temperatures at the Canyon were in the triple digits.
Carlson was described as a health nut who only allowed the boys to eat healthy foods. He admits he treated the boys roughly but denies being criminally negligent or endangering them. All three of the boys testified at his trial.
Carlson was convicted of child abuse and has already served his sentence of more than two years in prison.