A Mountain Home man originally given five years probation on charges stemming from injuries to a three-year-old male was sentenced to 36 months in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last week for violating the terms and conditions of his probation.
The original charge was lodged against 24-year-old Brett Reed in early 2016. Workers at the daycare center the child attended noted the small boy was injury free on one day, but several bruises were observed on the boy’s body the next.
Mountain Home police and an investigator from the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division interviewed Reed and his wife and both initially said they didn’t know how the boy was injured.
At one point, Reed and his spouse said they believed the boy must have jumped off his bed and landed on toys scattered on the floor.
The child’s mother said she had gone shopping on the day the injuries apparently happened, leaving the boy alone with Reed.
According to court records, the wife filed for both an order of protection and started divorce proceedings in the time frame surrounding the incident with the small boy.
It was eventually determined the injuries were caused when Reed and the boy were “rough housing” and the play got out of control.
During the sentencing in the 2016 case, Circuit Judge John Putman asked prosecutors if anything of a sexual nature had taken place during the incident and was told nothing of that kind had occurred.
During his appearance in circuit court last week, Reed admitted he had violated the terms and conditions of his probation by committing third-degree battery in late July.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI