BOY LEADS COPS TO DRUG STASH

A North Side couple were charged after their 13-year-old son whom they
allegedly beat led police to their stash of guns, cash and $160,000 worth
of cocaine, police said today.

Kenneth Sharp, 69, of 6330 N. Claremont Ave., was charged Tuesday with one
count of possession of a controlled substance, one misdemeanor count of
possession of marijuana, as well as weapons charges.

Cook County Criminal Court Judge Nicholas Ford ordered Sharp held on $2
million bail.

Sharp's wife, Hazel Poisso, 34, of the same address, was charged with one
misdemeanor count of domestic battery for allegedly beating the boy. Poisso
was released on bond this afternoon.

The boy confided in a 17-year-old friend that he had been abused regularly
by his parents, police said, and the friend called police.

When police took the boy to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, they said
they found evidence of physical abuse, including multiple bruises, and a
puncture wound on his knee, said Lt. John Carioscia.

While being treated, the boy told police there was cocaine and guns in the
home. Police searched the home Tuesday evening and found about 16 pounds of
cocaine, a 9mm handgun and a sawed-off 12-guage shotgun in the second-floor
apartment, Carioscia said.

The boy told police he had not been enrolled in school for three years.
Four other children also lived in the home, police said.

All five children were placed with the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services.