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Austintown man faces charges in child-abuse case
AUSTINTOWN
An Austintown Elementary School security officer called this child-abuse case “the worst she has seen.”
A teacher first noticed several whip marks from the 5-year-old girl’s wrists to shoulders, according to a township police report. A Mahoning County Children Services Board case worker later found additional marks on the child’s back, chest, neck and both legs.
Jeremy L. Betts, 33, of Edinburg Drive, Austintown, faces a felony count of child endangering and a misdemeanor count of domestic violence for reportedly striking the child repeatedly with a cellphone charger cord as punishment for poor behavior at school, according to the report.
A 7-year-old also living in the home told police she heard the child crying the night before as she was struck 64 times, the report states.
The 5-year-old victim initially claimed another relative struck her, but the 7-year-old told police Betts instructed her to claim they were struck by that relative “so he would not get arrested since he had just been released from prison,” the report states.
A counselor told police the 5-year-old “began to cry when discussing returning to the residence,” the report states.
None of the other three children in the home, age 8, 7 and 3, bore any marks of abuse, the report states.
Those at Betts’ residence became confrontational when police arrived. Betts, however, was taken into custody without incident. He and the other relative named in the report claimed the children had been striking each other with the cords the night before.
Betts is in the Mahoning County jail on a $35,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the domestic-violence charge, while his plea on the felony count was withheld. He’s set for a preliminary hearing in county area court here next week.
The children were taken into protective custody by CSB and released to other family members not related to those living in Betts’ household.