DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Woman pleads innocent to beating her nephew, 10, with tree switch

The caregiver for mentally retarded youth said her nephew used a vulgarity and refused to do homework.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Gloria J. Jenkins, a paid caregiver for mentally retarded juveniles, is fighting a charge that she used a tree switch to inflict 21 welts on her 10-year-old nephew.
Jenkins, 47, of Willis Avenue, pleaded innocent at her video arraignment Friday in municipal court. She is charged with domestic violence, a misdemeanor.
A charge of child endangering on her arrest report was not filed.
When Dana C. Guarnieri, an assistant city prosecutor, told the judge that the boy had been severely beaten, Jenkins yelled "That's not true!"
The boy told police that the beating took place Thursday after his aunt found school papers that he'd hidden because he'd received F's. She broke one tree switch on him then sent him outside for another to continue the beating, reports show.
Jenkins said in court that she did send him out for another switch but intended to just have it nearby.
Boy ran down street
Once outside, the boy ran down West Warren Avenue, police said. A concerned citizen who heard the boy's screams and saw him running pulled him from the street and took him to Calvary Towers on Market Street.
The boy told police that his aunt has beaten him in the past with extension cords. Jenkins is guardian for the boy and his 12-year-old sister.
Police, after interviewing the child, turned him over to the county Children Services Bureau. The CSB worker also took the boy's sister.
Jenkins admitted to the arresting officers that she beat the boy all over his body with the switch.
In court Friday, Jenkins said she is a caregiver at Turning Point on Midlothian Boulevard, and has been caring for children all her life.
Jenkins does contract work, about 18 hours each week, said Missy Morgan, a spokesman for the facility. The work requires that she visit the homes of the mentally retarded people she cares for, Morgan said.
Morgan said Jenkins is assigned to care for a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl who uses a wheelchair.
"She's such a nice lady," Morgan said Friday, surprised to hear that Jenkins had been arrested.
What aunt says happened
Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly, before setting bond, listened as Jenkins gave her version of what happened.
The woman said her nephew had used the f-word with an elderly woman up the street and didn't want to come home to do his homework. She said he shouldn't have used such language.
"You don't beat children to the point they get lacerations," Judge Kobly said, referring to the police report.
The judge set bond at $2,500, allowing 10 percent to be paid.
Jenkins will receive a court-appointed lawyer and be back in court Oct. 22. The case has been assigned to Judge Robert P. Milich.
If convicted, Jenkins faces up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine.
meade@vindy.com