Couple slapped 'extremely malnourished' 2-year-old son and fractured his skull for stealing food from stepsister's plate
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN: A Michigan couple who hit their two-year-old malnourished son in the face because he took food off his stepsister's plate have pleaded guilty to their charges and sentenced.
Allen Nagle, 33, and his live-in lover Cortni Pitts, 24, were arrested after the Michigan State Police responded to a restaurant in Branch County on October 27, 2018, on reports of child abuse, according to WWMT. When they arrived at the scene, a waitress told them she had witnessed Pitts, who is also the victim's stepmother, slap the then-two-year-old boy after he stole food off his stepsister's plate.
A criminal complaint filed in connection to the incident states that, following an investigation, the boy was also found to be "extremely malnourished," emaciated, covered in bruises, and healing from a skull fracture.
When questioned, Nagle admitted to hitting his son in the head and reportedly said he "didn't know my own strength." He also told to officers that he had noticed the boy, who was in the negative one percentile for body weight, had lost weight, and that it was "dramatically obvious that he is malnourished and starving."
The complaint stated that, after the child was placed in foster care, he rapidly gained weight.
Both he and Pitts were subsequently charged with felony second-degree child abuse. Pitts, a mother of three other children, was also charged with "nutritional neglect" in connection to the incident. Earlier this week, both were sentenced at the Branch County Circuit Court, reported WTVBAM.
Nagle agreed to enter a no-contest plea to fourth-degree child abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping the charge of second-degree child abuse, and was given a one-year jail sentence and placed for probation for two years. He was given credit for the 67 days he had already served behind bars, and his remaining jail time was suspended over probation on the condition that he complies with all probate court orders.
Pitts agreed to enter a guilty plea to attempted second-degree child abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping two counts of second-degree child abuse, and was given a one-year jail sentence and was placed on probation for three years.
She was given credit for one day served in jail and was ordered to pay over $1,000 in fines and court costs.