Unnamed boy - 12 yo / Accused: James P. Jennings - Scott Air Force Base IL

Friday, Mar. 23, 2012
Boy forced to do more than 1,000 push-ups, eat 2 screws; stepfather charged

BY KEVIN BERSETT - News-Democrat

A 260-pound man tortured his 12-year-old stepson this week by beating him with a paddle and a belt and forcing him to do more than 1,000 push-ups on his knuckles and eat two screws at a home on Scott Air Force Base, St. Clair County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Johnson said Friday.

James P. Jennings, 39, of 4534 Split Rock Drive Apt. A, was charged with felony aggravated battery, two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery and four counts of misdemeanor endangering the life of a child. Jennings, who is not an active military member, was being held at the county jail on $400,000 bail set by Associate Judge Zina Cruse.

The boy was treated and released from a hospital, where X-rays showed the screws in his stomach, Johnson said. He was placed in a foster home Friday. He will have to undergo further medical treatment because of the screws.

The boy's mother, who is an active member of the Air Force, returned from Florida Friday and was arrested following her interrogation, Johnson said. She was not at the home when the beatings occurred this week, but is being investigated for previous incidents, he said. No charges have been filed against her.

The mother had adopted the boy five years ago and had since married Jennings.

Jennings is accused of torturing the boy on two occasions, once on Tuesday morning and the second time Thursday morning, at the family's home, Johnson said.

During the first torture session, the man forced the boy to do 350 pushups and hit him with a wooden paddle so badly it broke, Johnson said.

The second round of torture occurred between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Thursday.

Jennings had told the boy to stay inside his bedroom while he went off to a disc jockey gig at 10 p.m. Wednesday. When he returned, he discovered the boy had left his room to let out the dogs and eat some cookies.

Jennings thought the chocolate from the cookies could harm the dogs, so he forced the boy to eat new and old crumbs off the ground. He also forced him to do 750 pushups.

"It seems we care more about the dogs than the child," Johnson said in regard to Jennings.

At the same time, Jennings beat the boy with a belt and punched him in the face. At one point, Jennings hit a chair so hard screws fell to the floor. He then made the boy eat the screws.

The child was allowed to go to bed at 5 a.m. and told to be ready to go to school an hour and 20 minutes later or he would be beat again, Johnson said.

The abuse was discovered Thursday morning at Scott Elementary School by a school nurse who examined the boy after he complained of shoulder pain.

"The school nurse did a fantastic job, exactly as the nurse should have done, and notified law enforcement agencies and the Department of Children and Family Services immediately and they notified us," Johnson said. "As it turned out, the child's back, the lower rear area and side arms were just covered in bruises."

The sheriff's department is investigating the family's history to see whether other abuse had occurred. No other children live at the home.

Scott Air Force Base security is assisting with the investigation, but a spokeswoman would not comment on the case.

An Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesman said his agency apparently has not had previous contact with this family.

http://www.bnd.com/2012/03/23/2112603/boy-forced-to-do-more-than-1000.html

This POS woman knew this brute was torturing this little boy. Both of them need to be in prison.

twinkletoes wrote:This POS woman knew this brute was torturing this little boy. Both of them need to be in prison.

Totally agree Twink. Thank God the school nurse intervened or we may have been reading about this boy's death. These people are sickos.

Yes, a school nurse could tell this boy was abused but his own mother could not? She knew and she, like all the others of her ilk decided she wanted the man in her bed more than she cared about her son.

I think she should be prosecuted but if not, she should not have custody. Too many of these POS mothers get off with no punishment for these crimes against their own children.

The mother of a Scott Air Force Base area child, reportedly tortured
and forced to eat screws, now also is charged in the case. 39-year-old
Lashawn Jennings is charged with a misdemeanor count of endangering the
life of a child. Her bond is set at $20,000.



Jennings’ husband, James Jennings is charged with numerous counts of
aggravated battery, domestic battery and endangering the life of a
child. He’s being held in the St. Clair County Jail on $400,000 bond.

The Jennings’ 12-year-old son is in foster care, but he will have to undergo surgery to remove two metal screws in his body.
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/03/25/scott-air-base-woman-now-charged-with-abuse-of-son/

Good news.