Father admits role in bat beating case

Youngstown

Charles Etto admitted his part in the confrontation that left his son in police custody and another teen in the hospital.

Etto, 40, of Austintown, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge of complicity to aggravated assault.

His sentencing hearing before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court is at 9 a.m. Feb. 1, and he remains on electronically monitored house arrest until then.

Etto was originally charged with felonious assault Oct. 14 for handing his 16-year-old son, Derek Etto, a baseball bat during a Sept. 27 fight outside the family’s South Edgehill Avenue residence.

Derek Etto is accused of hitting a 15-year-old classmate in the head with the bat — sending him to the hospital with severe injuries — and was charged as a juvenile with felonious assault.

His trial is scheduled for Dec. 15 in juvenile court.

Charles Etto’s assault charge put him in violation of his probation from previous drug trafficking and child endangering charges.

Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Becky Doherty, who prosecuted the assault case, recommended Etto be sentenced to probation on the assault charge.

Read more in Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com