Saturday, November 27, 2010

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part LXXIII): Woman charged with assault, allowing abuse of her children

The November 17, 2010 issue of the Newton County Times reports that a 51-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of permitting abuse of a minor and a single count of battery int he second degree. All are class De felonies. A hearing was set for October, but the female defendant failed to appear. The woman's 14-year-old son allegedly told her that he had engaged in sexual contact with his younger sisters, aged 13 and 11 and that he continued to have contact with the elder sister. The complaint alleged that the mother "recklessly failed to take action to protect" the female children "from further exposure." In addition, the 11-year-old also sent a letter to the defendant, detailing the brother's abuse of the girl. The defendant allegedly responded by "hitting the girl in the face, knocking out a tooth," which led to the battery charge. The aggravated assault charges stem from incidents when (1) the defendant sat on the 13-year-old child, holding her hands behind her back and striking her legs and buttocks with a board and (2) the defendant stuffed socks into the same child's mouth, then hit and punched her. The children's father also reportedly abused them--by shaking them.

The Department of Human Services has removed all four children from the home.

Other news regarding criminal charges involves failure to pay child support, possession of controlled substances (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver, and making and uttering hot checks.

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