A jury acquitted Christian Ratliff, 24, Minot, on Tuesday of a Class C felony child abuse charge.

Ratliff had been accused of handcuffing a 9-year-old boy and making him sit on his knees for up to 30 minutes as punishment. Ratliff, who was the boy’s guardian at the time, had also allegedly made the boy stand in place, staring at a wall and holding a heavy bucket of sand, or made him kneel looking at a wall or hold his hands above his head for long periods of time. The incidents reportedly took place two years ago.

Ratliff’s lawyer, Raissa Carpenter, said at a hearing last week that Ratliff and his wife, Emerald Ratliff, had agreed to take the boy in because his mother had legal and drug problems. The boy had more behavioral problems than they were prepared to handle. Carpenter had told Judge Gary Lee that both the Ratliffs had come from “rough backgrounds” and hadn’t been taught appropriate parenting techniques. The boy no longer lives with the Ratliffs, who have two young children, and the couple has taken parenting classes. Social Services has closed the case against them.

Judge Lee had refused to accept a plea deal for Ratliff that would have called for him to plead guilty to an amended charge of Class C felony child neglect and be given a deferred imposition of sentence for one year.

The case went to trial on Monday and, according to a listing on the North Dakota Courts website, the jury came back with a not guilty verdict on Tuesday afternoon.

Emerald Ratliff entered into a pre-trial diversion agreement with the state last year that means the charge against her will be dismissed if all the terms are met.