A 40-year-old man on probation for confining his son to the basement may have his probation revoked.
In August 2010, Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull gave Eric Urbano a three-year suspended prison sentence and ordered him to probation on a single charge of neglect of a dependant. He was also given two years probation on a charge of possession of a controlled substance in another case.
Urbano was arrested in April 2010 on the charge after police discovered his son, whose age was not listed in court records, had been locked in the basement from October to March. The boy suffered from Tourettes syndrome and bipolar disorder.
At the time of Urbanos sentencing, Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards said the suspended prison sentence came at the request of his son, who wanted to keep his father out of prison.
Urbano forced his son to urinate in a cup, kept him from access to running water and provided only an inflatable mattress to sleep on in the basement.
When police found the boy, he said Urbano locked him in the basement because he ate too much food. If he needed to go to the bathroom or to get something to eat, he would escape out a basement window and go to a nearby fast-food restaurant.
Urbano was in Florida with his girlfriend at the time police found the boy, according to court documents.
In a petition to revoke Urbanos probation, Allen County probation officers said he was supposed to obtain approval to transfer his probation if he moved.
But on Nov. 9, Urbano said he was moving to Florida and had bought a condominium. His probation had already been moved from Indiana to Arizona and then again from Arizona to Utah. According to court documents, after the last transfer, Urbano was told he could not transfer it again and must complete his probation in Indiana or Utah.
Urbano moved to Florida anyway in January and was coming back to Utah monthly to report to his probation officer. However, he told his Utah probation officer he was living in Utah and traveling to Florida for work, according to court documents.
Urbano is in the Allen County Jail without bail. He appeared in court Tuesday, but another hearing is scheduled for August.