A 13-year-old boy told an Ottawa court Wednesday that his stepmother would hit him for not doing his homework — and that his Mountie father forced her to.

"I honestly think dad made her do it," the boy told his stepmother's lawyer, Anne London Weinstein, during his third day of cross-examination.

The boy's 36-year-old stepmother and his 44-year-old father, neither of whom can be named to protect their son's identity, were charged in February 2013 in what Ottawa police have called the "worst case of abuse police have seen."

The father and stepmother are both on trial for aggravated assault, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life. The woman is also charged with assaulting the child with a weapon, while the man is charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.

Hit with wooden spoon

On Wednesday, the boy testified that his stepmother hit him twice on the palm with a wooden spoon, but "not as harsh as my dad."

His RCMP officer father was watching while his stepmother hit him, the boy told court.

The court has previously heard testimony from the boy that his father pointed a gun at his head while he was restrained in his family's basement. The boy told the court Wednesday that his stepmother was "going crazy" when his father pointed the gun and that she was yelling at her husband to "stop, stop."

On another occasion, the boy testified, his stepmother cried, yelled and tried to physically restrain his father from holding a knife to his neck.

However, his stepmother could also be cold and harsh, telling him once, when he was chained in the basement, "I'm not coming back to see you," the court heard.

The court has previously examined 160 photos of the scarred, emaciated boy when he was admitted to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in 2011, as well as cell phone videos from 2013 of the boy naked and restrained in the basement of his family's home.

The RCMP has confirmed that the father has been on leave since May 2011, but the reason for that remains under a court-ordered publication ban.

The boy's cross-examination continues.