A Bethlehem woman in is prison on accusations she badly beat her 8-year-old son with a switch, leaving him with cuts and welts, city police said.
The 33-year-old woman from the Southside was arrested Thursday and charged with simple assault and child endangerment. The mother was sent to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $50,000 bail in her case.
Police were contacted after the boy’s school reported he was emotionally distraught and in physical pain. A caseworker with Northampton County Children, Youth and Families reported the boy was sleeping when he was woken up by his mother hitting him with what he thought was a cable.
The boy reportedly told authorities his mother told him to not tell anyone and that she would send him to a school far away, court records say.
Police said they could see a “significant” number of linear cuts and raised welts on the boy’s left arm, shoulder, back and neck.
In an interview with police, the mother reportedly admitted to beating the boy with a switch, or tree branch, she got near their home.
The woman said the boy ate a snack without her permission, and she found out before she went to work Wednesday afternoon, records say.
When she returned home at 1 a.m. Thursday, the mother said she was “fed up,” grabbed the switch and beat the boy, according to police.
Police said the woman chose a switch because she wanted to boy to be in pain and to remember the assault.
Editor’s Note: Pennsylvania’s child abuse hotline, ChildLine, is available 24/7 at 1-800-932-0313. Reports can also be filed at www.KeepKidsSafe.pa.gov and can be made anonymously.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
