The parents of an 11-year-old boy who was handcuffed and shackled in Mille Lacs County after failing to appear in court to testify as a crime victim are suing several county officials, alleging that the treatment of their son was "inhumane and degrading."

In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, George and Kirstie Deyhle say their son was "psychologically and physically harmed" by the ordeal, which occurred in April after he was removed from school in front of teachers and classmates and taken to the Mille Lacs County jail.

They also allege the county's actions are part of a discriminatory pattern of conduct toward members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The 11-year-old is a member of the band.

The boy, who had been assaulted by an older boy while walking home from school last September, was kept overnight in a juvenile detention center April 10 and returned to the county courthouse the next morning handcuffed, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit. He was later released with a warning from the judge to attend future court dates.

Defendants named in the suit are the Mille Lacs County commissioners, county attorney Jan Kolb, assistant county attorney Heither Geisert, Sheriff Brent Lindgren and unidentified sheriff's deputies.

Lindgren declined to comment Tuesday, saying he had yet to see the suit. However, Kolb defended the county's handling of the case, citing a 2004 order by county judges requiring everyone taken into custody by county officers to wear hand and leg restraints and jail suits. She said in the past that judges issued the order after several people fled the courthouse in Milaca while being transported to and from the jail across the street.

"These policies apply across the board, not just to Native Americans, as they imply in the lawsuit," Kolb said. "There are allegations there that are just contrary to how the criminal justice system works."

The Deyhles are seeking a minimum of $75,000 in damages.

According to the suit, other county records and previous interviews with Kolb and the Deyhles, the boy's troubles began Sept. 9, 2006, when he was kicked, punched and tripped by a 13-year-old boy on the way home from school on the Mille Lacs Reservation. When he told his mother what happened, she confronted the 13-year-old and a friend and allegedly ran them off the road with her car. She was later charged with second-degree assault, a felony.

At that time, authorities also filed a fifth-degree assault charge against the 13-year-old for attacking the younger boy, even though the Deyhles didn't pursue charges against him.

Over the next few months, the county sent five letters to the Deyhles to update them on the case. The family, however, says it moved last fall and never got any correspondence.

When the 11-year-old and his mother failed to appear in court March 29, warrants were issued for their arrest. Weeks later, without his testimony, the county dismissed the case against the 13-year-old.

Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425

Richard Meryhew • richm@startribune.com