Story highlights Sheriff's office in Lincoln County, Missouri, says relatives said they did nothing wrong

Boy was tied up and threatened by man with gun, police say

They say he was taken to a basement where his pants were removed, told he could become sex slave

(CNN) A 6-year-old boy in Missouri endured an emotional four-hour staged kidnapping because his family thought he was being too nice to people he didn't know, police said Thursday.

The four people involved in the alleged plot -- the boy's mother, grandmother, aunt and a co-worker of the aunt -- have been charged with kidnapping and other felonies, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said.

Elizabeth Hupp, the boy's mother.

"Family members told investigators their primary intent was to educate the victim and felt they did nothing wrong," the press release said.

During his reported ordeal the boy was lured Monday into a pickup after getting off his school bus, tied up, threatened with a gun, taken to a basement where his pants were removed, and told he could be sold into sex slavery, police said.

Denise Kroutil, the boy's aunt.

The boy was told in the truck by Nathan Wynn Firoved, the aunt's co-worker, that he would never "see his mommy again," and he would be "nailed to the wall of a shed," the sheriff's statement said.

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