unpopular comment
maybe the parents of the child did some wrong to someone else (conned them, killed their own-hit and run, raped/sodomized their kid..... and the only way for revenge was through the kid.
at times, there are crimes that arent random. be careful what you do to someone else. they might keep quiet but will later act on you in a different manner from what you did to them.
(how many stories have we heard of people paying off cops or thugs to harass someone else)