Latest news with #ColleenCassidy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Couple Arrested on Charges of Allegedly Assaulting 5-Year-Old Boy, Forcing Him to Eat His Own Feces
Charles Smitley, 29, and his girlfriend Colleen Cassidy, 29, of Monessen were arrested on Monday, Aug. 4NEED TO KNOW A Pennsylvania couple have been arrested on accusations of abusing a 5-year-old boy in their care, police say According to police, the boy was "emaciated and covered in bruises" The alleged victim also claimed that he was forced to eat his own feces and would go for days without eatingA Pennsylvania couple is being accused of torturing a 5-year-old boy and forcing him to eat his own feces. On Monday, Aug. 4, the Westmoreland County and District Attorney's Office revealed in a press release that Charles Smitley, 29, and Colleen Cassidy, 29, of Monessen are facing multiple child abuse charges. The child in question is reportedly the son of Smitley, while Cassidy is Smitley's girlfriend, according to CBS News. 'A Monessen couple is facing charges after police said a young boy was left with relatives and appeared to be emaciated and covered in bruises,' the district attorney's office release alleged. The pair are being charged with endangering the welfare of children, unlawful restraint, as well as simple assault. After an unnamed relative became the guardian of the child in April, the family member became concerned after noticing the boy looking 'dirty, unhygienic and hungry.' The loved one was reportedly the child's grandfather and Smitley's father, per CBS News. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. According to the relative, the child appeared to be in pain and his legs and buttocks were covered in bruises. 'The relative took the victim to a local emergency room for evaluation where he was admitted to a pediatric unit for further evaluation and treatment,' authorities continued. 'Healthcare workers said the boy appeared to be emaciated and had not eaten for a period of time.' Police were told by hospital staff that the boy's injuries on his buttocks indicated that he had been 'seated for an extended time.' 'The victim allegedly told workers that he was struck with a paddle and tied to a chair,' officials said. 'During a forensic interview, the victim allegedly disclosed that he was spanked with a paddle by Cassidy and Smitley, forced to eat his own feces, and went days without eating.' He added 'that he had been tied down in a chair previously by his father's girlfriend," Monessen Police Lt. Aaron Thompson said, per CBS News. The boy also told authorities that 'he was forced to sleep on a bathroom floor in the basement without blankets or pillows.' 'Another child who resided with Smitley and Cassidy allegedly corroborated the victim's claims of abuse to forensic interviewers but denied any abuse toward him,' the release continued. The other child is said to be Cassidy's 11-year-old son, according to CBS News. He said he once found the 5-year-old "in a closet with his hands taped together with duct tape." The children have since been removed from the house and are both in good condition, according to CBS News. Neighbor Katherine Secleter told the outlet that she never knew children were living with Smitley and Cassidy. "My heart celebrates that bad people are off the street, but it aches for those kids," she said. 'Smitley and Cassidy were arraigned and remanded to the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post bail,' the attorney's office said. Cassidy and Smitley remain on $100,000 and $250,000 bail, respectively, with their preliminary hearings set to take place on Aug. 22, per CBS News. PEOPLE has reached out to the City of Monessen Police Department for an update on the case and to confirm the victim's connection to the couple in custody. Read the original article on People
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area man and girlfriend accused of abusing 5-year-old boy, locking him in basement
A man and his girlfriend are charged with what Monessen police are calling a disturbing case of child abuse. Katherine Secleter wishes she could have stopped what led police to her street on Monday morning. Her neighbors, 35-year-old Colleen Cassidy and 29-year-old Charles Smitley V, were taken into custody. "They seemed polite. They were a little standoffish, but like new people usually are," Secleter said. However, she and others told KDKA they never even knew children were living with them at their home, which they moved into in the fall. "What a life that they're living, a trauma, a nightmare," Secleter said. Monessen Police Lt. Aaron Thompson said the department was first alerted in April by Pennsylvania State Police troopers in Uniontown after Smitley's father brought his 5-year-old grandson to the hospital for bruising. Court records said he recently gained custody from Smitley, who said "he no longer [wanted] to care for the child." From October until that time, the child had been living with Smitley, Cassidy and Cassidy's 11-year-old son. When the grandfather took the child in, the child was dirty and "had a foul odor," according to court documents. On a trip to McDonald's, the boy was only interested in eating, "complained about his stomach hurting and was observed to be walking in pain," court records said. After washing him in a bathtub, his grandfather allegedly found several bruises on the boy's legs and butt. "They saw the extent of the injuries, and that's when they immediately took him to Uniontown Hospital," Thompson said. Officials said the child was then transported to West Virginia University Ruby Memorial Hospital, where a nurse shared with police that the child "appeared to be emaciated." They also said the child told them Cassidy and his dad "had spanked him with a white paddle… every day" and that they made him eat his own waste. "He revealed that he was forced to eat feces, that he was not being fed properly, that he had been tied down in a chair previously by his father's girlfriend," Thompson said. Investigators describe that the boy said the two of them would lock him in the basement bathroom to sleep "with no blankets or padding," and Cassidy's 11-year-old told police he found the child "in a closet with his hands taped together with duct tape." The 11-year-old said he was never hurt. Thompson said since the children were removed from the home, they're doing well. "My heart celebrates that bad people are off the street, but it aches for those kids," Secleter said. Cassidy and Smitley remain in Westmoreland County Jail on $100,000 and $250,000 bail, respectively. Their preliminary hearings are set for Aug. 22.
