PHOENIX — A federal trial has begun in Phoenix for an Indiana man accused of forcing his grandsons to hike in the Grand Canyon without food or water in brutal August heat.
Christopher Alan Carlson of Indianapolis has pleaded not guilty to six counts of child abuse. A jury was selected Wednesday morning and opening statements were set for the afternoon.
Carlson's grandsons were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time of the hike.
A criminal complaint says the boys told investigators that Carlson hit, pushed, choked and squeezed them. They also said they weren't allowed to eat breakfast the morning of Aug. 28 and were given only celery on the hike from the South Rim down to the Colorado River.
Investigators say Carlson later told them that the boys were overweight.
