Photo: Jeremy Willard Jessup
A Mountain Home man alleged to have been abusive to his 71-year-old mother, leaving her in fear for her life, is scheduled to go on trial later this month. The announcement came during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Deputies were called to the mother’s residence along Berrywood Lane in the Gassville area three times during mid-August. The first trip was made about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 when the mother reported her son, 43-year-old Jeremy Willard Jessup, was being abusive to her pet dog.
The deputies reported they made no contact with Jessup on the first call. He was said not to live in the residence.
The second trip to the mother’s home came that same day and less than an hour later, when she reported her son had returned, putting her in fear for her safety. She told the deputies she did not want her son at her residence and asked he be removed.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Jessup was told to leave the property and did so on foot.
The next day, a deputy returned to the mother’s residence. She said she had come home from a church event shortly after 3 p.m. and found her son inside her home, even after being asked to leave the day before.
She reported locking all of the doors before departing. A deputy said the mother was “mentally distressed, and barely able to talk.” She said her son had broken into her house.
The front door to the home was found to have been damaged to the point it would not close.
According to the sheriff’s office incident report, on the third trip to the residence Jessup had again been verbally abusive to his elderly parent before a deputy arrived, telling her she was a bad mother, and he did not love her any longer.
The mother said she was afraid of her son and “thought he was going to kill her.”
The mother told deputies, as her son was leaving the residence, he walked past her 2019 Toyota Corolla and kicked the vehicle causing about $1,500 in damages.
Jessup left the residence on foot in a westerly direction. A deputy made contact with him about a mile from his mother’s home and took him into custody.
Jessup is charged with residential burglary, second-degree assault on a family or household member and criminal mischief.
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