Thieves target mute, disabled boy

An eight-year-old mute boy with cerebral palsy has had his sole means of communication with the outside world stolen as he watched, powerless to act.

Thieves stole the $20,000 electronic communication device from his wheelchair, as Caleb sat and watched in his Christchurch home on Saturday.

They snuck in the back door of the family's New Brighton home, while his mother was in the garden.

First they took the device's charger from his mother's bag, then the large, flat, touch-screen device.

Software on the machine tailored to the boy could not be used by anyone else, his mother said.

"It is of no use to anyone but [the boy] and allows him to attend school and communicate with others."

New Brighton police Acting Sergeant Ed Landstra called the theft a "despicable thing".

"He was definitely in the room when the theft took place. He knew what was happening. It was very traumatic for the boy," he said.

He appealed for whoever had the machine to leave it somewhere safe such as a school, library or police station, so it could be given back.

- NZPA