A mother, her boyfriend, and an uncle all face child endangerment charges after handcuffing a six-year-old boy who was then mauled by a pit bulldog.
The incident happened on Saturday, August 17 at a home in Northeast Ohio, USA, where deputies received a call about a boy who had been bitten by a pit bull.
In court, the boy's mother, Angelina Williams, argued that she did not know it was illegal to handcuff the child when she and the other defendants allegedly tried to punish the boy for failing to clean up after the dog. did that
The little boy was bitten on the neck and ear, and was taken to the hospital, but is expected to be OK, his grandmother said.
The boy's uncle, Robert Michalski Jr., has been identified as the dog's owner and the owner of the residence where the attack occurred.
Taylor Desiree Marvin Brown, Williams' boyfriend, was also on hand to meet the family.
'The dog isn't even my dog. The cuffs aren't even my cuffs,' Williams argued in court in Ashland County last week Wednesday, insisting she didn't know it was illegal to handcuff a child.
'I didn't even know the cuffs were illegal or there was anything wrong with it.
'My uncle told me it was fine.'
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell recounted the incident;
During the trio's preliminary hearing, Tunnell told the judge that 'the defendant and his co-defendants handcuffed him on both hands and then put another set of cuffs on his feet.'
'They were trying to tie him to a chair using a rope when he got off the chair and then while he was sitting on the ground, a pit bull attacked him.'
He revealed how Williams and two other co-defendants handcuffed the child at the home over the weekend simply because he did not clean up after the dog.
Williams maintained that she did not know she had done anything wrong.
'I never meant any harm,' he said. 'I really didn't.'
The prosecutor added how Williams' daughter was also present, but was not involved in the attack.
The boy's grandmother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told WSAZ-3 Monday how despite the horrific nature of the incident, she is hopeful her grandson will recover.
'I come in, and I see my grandson sitting on the floor and – not to be sarcastic – I'm like, “Why does he have handcuffs?” He recalled how he told the three defendants, 'Get them away from him now.'
She also described how she jumped to his aid, showing the bite marks left on his hands in the process. Still, compared to his grandson, he said he was 'lucky'.
'It was just a reaction when the dog did it. I automatically reached down. I saw where the dog was going as it went in slow motion,' he said.
On Monday, the boy's grandmother said she was just thankful he was recovering, more than a week after his ordeal.
'He's a sweetheart. He really is,' he said, when the pit bull was taken into custody to be kept as a vicious dog.
After the attack, the boy's mother, her boyfriend, and the dog's owner were all arrested, but Michalski and the dog left before police arrived.
Police added that when the dog attacked, the child was restrained with two sets of handcuffs on both hands and feet.