Stepdad/dad charged with assault in beating of 8-year-old boy (Brookfield, Ohio)

Stepdad DAMION WISE governed his family like a prisoner of war camp. Mom and the son were terrified of him, and both were systematically abused. Oh, but that's a stepdad you say? A dad would be different? Nope. Wise also has a infant son with the mother, and last June, Dad threw a brick through a car window when the baby was in the car. Abusive dads are often stepdads and boyfriends, too.

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Brookfield boy found beaten
Stepfather charged with assault
By DARCIE LORENO Tribune Chronicle
POSTED: August 25, 2009

BROOKFIELD - Neighbors of 8-year-old Zachary Wise admitted Monday they've seen "abnormal" behavior since he and his family moved to their 5961 Everett East Road home a few months ago.

He'd wander for hours around the fenced-in backyard, show up on his bike at their homes wanting to be let in and sometimes had bruises.

It wasn't until Saturday that someone called the police.

And when they arrived, the boy was dehydrated with bruises and sores on almost every part of his body, a possible collapsed lung and injuries to his throat. His stepfather, Damion Wise, 30, was arrested on charges of felonious assault and child endangerment after the boy said he had shut his hand and arm in the door, hit him with a belt and baseball bat and stuck his fingers down his throat to squeeze his uvula - just over the past few days.

"This child is literally terrified of his father and didn't say anything to anyone," said Marcia Tiger, executive director of Trumbull County Children's Services. "It sounds like an old-fashioned ... torturing. He's still in the hospital, but is going to be fine - physically."
Zachary is currently at Akron Children's Hospital in Akron.

Police believe he has been abused over the past one to two years, most severely in the days leading up to Saturday. According to police reports, the boy lives at the home with his stepfather, mother, Celinda, and 5-month-old brother, Sebastian.

Celinda Wise has not been charged. Tiger said CSB has taken custody of both children.

When police arrived Saturday, Zachary was in the backyard and had two black eyes with facial swelling, blood in his left eye and had trouble walking. There were patterned strike welts or bruises on his belly, chest, abdomen, sides, underarms, feet, ankles and back along with a large cut and bump on the back of his head.

They said he held onto the walls for support during an interview because of his feet and head were hurting. He was wearing a child's diaper, which he told police Wise made him wear. His lips were shriveled and cracked.

Zachary told police his dad beat him with the bat after he was supposed to hold books over his head to "make his arms strong." "But I got tired and I sat down, so I got beat," he said.

He also told them Wise shut his hand in the door and that he was very tan because "my mom and dad clean and I have to just sit outside." Zachary said "He (Wise) was mad so he put his fingers in my throat and squeezed my uvula," reports state.

When asked how he felt about his dad, he said "I'm afraid of him, he tells me he's going to kill me."

According to police reports, the boy's mother denied knowing about his injuries and said she is not permitted to spend time with Zachary, who she said is sent to his room right after dinner. She said Wise calls her son names, but that she gets beaten when she tells him not to "and it's on me again."

Wise is already facing charges of domestic violence and endangering children after a call in June to the home after a fight. According to reports, Wise threw a brick through the car window near their 3-month-old baby. While Tiger could not comment, Brookfield police Chief Dan Faustino said CSB was called after that incident.

Douglas Pusateri, 6294 Everett East Road, said that in the four years he has lived on the street, six families have lived in the Wise home. While Pusateri, a Youngstown State University police officer, didn't know much about the boy or his family, he said he saw police bagging evidence Saturday.

Michalina Jones lives on nearby Greensleaves Circle with her husband, 6-year-old daughter Gabby and 7-year-old son, Zack. She said Zachary rode his bike over to their house several times and "always wanted to come in."

She recalled an incident at her son's recent birthday party. Zachary showed up, she said, and she told him he'd have to come back later.

"He came back at 9 p.m. that night," she said, adding he had a bruise on his nose. "He was very friendly, he'd come over and come right up to the kids and ask them 'Do you want to be my friends?'"

Darlene Ashman, 5941 Everett East Road, said her husband last week mentioned seeing the boy sitting in the yard and that his "eye looked funny, something didn't seem right," she said, adding neighbors had seen him sit for four or five hours "just picking his fingers, pulling grass."

"We've all kind of taken a blind eye to the house and I really regret it," she said. "We all feel pretty ashamed."

Faustino emphasized the importance of reporting anything suspicious when it comes to children.
"Our officers went there to do a welfare check. We get those calls frequently," he said. "We usually go out and they are unfounded. Then you get ones like this ... where if someone had not called. It's terrible. It could have been a lot worse had someone not reported it."

Wise was arraigned Monday on the charges and will be back in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday, when he'll also be sentenced on the prior charges in Eastern District Court. He is being held without bond on the prior charges and was issued a $250,000 bond on each of the two new charges Monday.

Faustino said the case was shocking for everyone involved.

"(Our officers) were shaken up," he said. "The main thing is taking the two kids. We plan on keeping them out."