Abuse? Is there really something wrong with living in the wilderness? Moreover, is there anything illegal about it? Your suggestion is rather intriguing so could you please elaborate?

I have a bad feeling I accidentally skimmed over an important part of the OP because this just seems odd to me, not really wrong.

so he was the guy, stalking my window the past days? O:

nah, just kidding, i am not living in Berlin ;D.. but well.. thats an interresting story indeed, good for the boy that he found out of the forests. even if germany's ammount o' wood is limited, there is still enough space to get lost for a looong time.. Berlin is actually quite a good place for him to be, might be overwhelming at first (its not our maincity for no reason), but thank god that germany is very caring for people that have nothing.

@living in the woods: it isnt illegal, but as a teenager, you HAVE to visit a school until you've succesfully absolved at least the 9th grade (not doing so is illegal as far as i know).. and the dad took him away from his friends, and actually destroying the boy's life as it was, is quite an evil act... and i dont think the boy was able to choose..

Interesting story. If true, that kid can write one helluva memoir.

How do you even know he abused him? We have very little info on the story, and the only thing his father could be charged with, is for putting his kid out of school

At least they wont have to spend money on bills :).

if he's able to write properly, that is.^^

It's illegal to take a child out of school 'till he graduates the 9th or 10th grade. And forcing your child to abandon school, his friends, isolating him from society and forcing him to live in the woods with no roof over his head, no food, clothes sanitary units etc. is considered child abuse. Not to mention that he most likely exposed the child to criminal activites, by stealing from campers and cabins. I'm quite sure that any social worker would find this an unfit environment for a child to grow up in,and would take the child into custody.

The father was obviously unfit to be a parent, and most likely suffered from some mental disease.

Putting the kid out of school, plus isolating him from his friends and from society as a whole, plus making him live in the woods with no roof over his head, no means of proper hygene, no food other than what they could find or steal (he most likely exposed him to criminal activites also), no access to medical facilities, putting the kid at risk of being attacked by wild animals, essentially making the kid live like a wild animal... I'm quite sure this qualifies as child abuse. It's no different if he had kept him locked up in a cage in his basement. The fact that the kid can't even remember much of the ordeal (or before it), shows that he has been seriously traumatized.

Of course, this is true providing it's not all one big joke, like balloon boy.

He seems to have memory problems, but I'd love to read a memoir of what went on. Granted, this could all be just one big stunt...

Sounds like a great adventure to me. Hopefully society does not ruin him now. He has a chance to use these unique experiences to shed a different light on the world. As long as the people that take him in don't tell him his whole life is a shame, and he did not deserve this, he may turn out fine.

At those saying this is abuse. Sorry, but this is real life. If you want abuse, look no further than these parents that send their kids to school, give them all the essentials and more whether the kid has been deserving or not. These same parents that loose touch with their over pampered train wrecks, yet they continue to fuel the fire by giving the child more and more ammunition. They by them a car, pay for all their gas, dates, insurance, and in some cases schooling. In the end the parents are ready to move on with their own lives, they kept a kid alive tell they were 18 or a college graduate that was the mission right. Hold on though, they forgot one thing. You need more social skills than hanging with friends, and facebooking to make it in the real world.

This may just be a problem right here in western WA, USA, and I hope that's the case, but something has to be done. These 20 year old young adults, still act like 9 year old brats. They can't keep a job, they slack off and think adults are supposed to give them whatever they want. I constantly here this BS about how they should continue to have the world handed to them till at least 30 or 35, and then they should get a job and start a family.

That is child abuse right there in my eyes. Not this story presented in the OP.