"John Doe" - 8 yo(Accused Braxton & Pannell)- Newport News VA

Mother, boyfriend charged with child neglect

NEWPORT NEWS — An 8-year-old boy told police he was beaten so badly last week that he couldn't walk.

The boy was struck with a belt and a belt buckle by his mother, according to a criminal complaint.

The boy's mother, 34-year-old Tiffannie Braxton, was initially charged
with malicious wounding for the Feb. 7 incident. On Wednesday, police
charged her with the additional charges of felony child neglect and
cruelty to a child. Police also charged Braxton's boyfriend, 34-year-old
Roosevelt Pannell, of Yeardley Drive, with felony child neglect and
cruelty to a child.
On Feb. 8, police went to Riverside Elementary School after receiving a
report of suspected child abuse, according to Lou Thurston, a spokesman
for Newport News
police. The officer interviewed the boy, who said his mother had
punished him for playing with fire by beating him with a belt, Thurston
said.

The boy said that the belt hit all the way around his body and struck
his legs, arms and back, according to the criminal complaint. The boy
also showed signs of blunt-force trauma to the face, according to the
criminal complaint.

The child told police that when he was younger, he would get hit with a
switch and then a belt. He told police that he gets punched in the chest
now that he's older, in addition to the switch and belt.

According to the criminal complaint, the boy said his mother "got one of
those leather belts and hit me with it ten times … or twenty-four
times."

The boy is in the custody of Child Protective Services. Pannell supplied
Braxton with the belt she used to beat her son, according to police.

Braxton and Pannell were in Newport News jail on Wednesday, pending $5,000 bond each.




http://www.dailypress.com/news/crime/dp-child-assault-20110216,0,3376773.story