Published in The Lake County Independent, Libertyville, Illinois, on 06/26/1903.
Stolen Child Tells of Terrible Treatment by Showmen.
    Kidnapped by circus hands, John Layton, a 6-year-old boy, told the police at East St. Louis that his clothes had been taken from him, that his face and hands had been discolored as a disguise, and that he had been locked in a cage with monkeys as a wild boy. He trembled with terror even as he told the story of his terrible experience, and not even in the company of his father, Patrick Layton, would he be comforted. His body is covered with scars. His tortures have left him a nervous wreck and the sight of a stranger drives him into a fit of hysterical fear. For more than a week the child had been missing until the other day, when the police found the terrified little one running into town. Sylvester Baker, a negro attache of the carnival show, is under arrest, but he has been taken to Belleville to prevent a possible lynching.
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