Victim is autistic.
By Raif Karerat
Follow @ambazaarmag
A man has been charged with assaulting a 4-year-old boy with autism, including pulling three of his teeth out, while baby-sitting him last summer what law enforcement officials call one of the “most horrific acts of child abuse†they’ve seen “in a really long time,” according to CBS Philly.
Authorities in Montgomery County, Pa. said 27-year-old Nicholas Kernechel of East Greenville was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses.
Authorities stated the child’s mother brought him to Upper Perkiomen police in July along with a plastic bag containing the three “bloody but intact†teeth.
Investigators say Nicholas Kernechel was watching his girlfriend’s four-year-old autistic son in the apartment they shared on Main Street in East Greenville. It appears the the boy wasn’t doing exactly what Kernechel was asking, so Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said he beat the boy and ripped out three of his teeth.
“The teeth were recovered, they were intact from the root to the edge of the tooth,†says Ferman. “They were bloodied. And they have striations on them that would indicate that a tool of some sort was used to remove them from the child’s mouth.â€
In addition to the missing teeth, the boy “had visible, severe facial and dental injuries, including an extremely swollen upper lip, a bloody upper gum line, and bruises all over his face,†prosecutors said in a statement.
Kernechel’s attorney Patrick McMenamin Jr., claimed his client didn’t abuse the child and the injuries were “an unfortunate accident,†reported the Associated Press.
McMenamin added that Kernechel had been helping the child get out of bed to use the bathroom when the boy slipped, fell and hit his head on a table and floor.
The Washington Post revealed a judge set Kernechel’s bail at $100,000 during his arraignment and forbade him from having contact with the mother and son. His next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Child abuse regrettably continues to spool into the news cycles on a regular basis. On Friday, A 20-year-old mother was arraigned on child abuse charges after her unconscious 3-month-old infant daughter was rushed to the hospital with bruised and broken ribs.
Pontiac, Mich. resident Constance Johnson faces life in prison for first- and second-degree child abuse charges, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, reported the Detroit News. She is currently being held in the Oakland County Jail on a $30,000 cash surety bond, officials said.
On Saturday a man in Tulsa, Ok. was arrested for lewd molestation of a child and child abuse.
Police said when they responded to a call to a park they found Richard Peters, 37, had been detained by a passerby who heard a child screaming in the park.
According to the report, a 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old sister said they were walking in Reed Park and waved at Peters.
They said they ran when they noticed Peters had started following them. The girls said they yelled at him to leave them alone when, according to the report, Peters tackled the 13 year old to the ground, forced her head down and hit her in the face., according to Oklahoma’s NewsOn 6.
Peters told police he held the girl, who he believed to be six or seven, down and attempted to have sex with her.
Jail records show he’s being held on a $175,000 bond for complaints of attempted lewd molestation of a minor, kidnapping and two counts of child abuse.