A judge denied a request to lower the bond Wednesday for the father of a Hallandale Beach boy who went missing in 2011 and is presumed dead.
Calvin Melvin, 27, is charged with making a false statement to a law enforcement officer in the disappearance of Dontrell Melvin and is being held on $151,000 bond.
Melvin had also been charged with child neglect in January but the charge was later dropped.
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During Wednesday's hearing, Melvin's attorney, Ed Hoeg, argued that since the charge was dropped, so should his bond.
Melvin and the boy's mother, 21-year-old Brittney Sierra, were arrested in January after it was discovered that their son hadn't been seen since July 2011, when he was just 5 months old.
Under police questioning, Melvin and Sierra blamed each other in the boy's disappearance and each provided officers an area to search, authorities said.
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Skeletal remains were later found in the backyard of a home where the parents reportedly used to live. Investigators are still waiting for DNA results for a positive identification of the remains but they suspect it is the baby boy.
Prosecutors said it could take a few more weeks for the remains to be identified, and if they are the boy's, Melvin could face more charges.
Sierra currently faces a charge of child neglect with bodily harm.
During Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors said Melvin changed his story about what happened to the boy. Hoeg said Melvin's information led police to the remains.
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"He's the one who gave the information to the police, he's the one, if he did make any contradictory statements, he came clean, he told the truth, that's why they have a case, because of Calvin Melvin," Hoeg said.
Several of Melvin's family members attended Wednesday's hearing including his mother, Annie, who told the judge the family has no money to post bond. She said her son, who graduated from Hallandale High School, has no previous arrests.
"I don't think he's guilty of what he's charged with and I certainly don't believe he's guilty of any homicide," Hoeg said.
The judge denied Melvin's motion to lower bond but set a hearing for next month to hear motions to dismiss the charge against him.
