Dad accused of beating son with aluminum pipe (Charles Town, West Virginia)

Dad RALPH JOSEPH DIGNAZIO has been indicted on felony child abuse charges for beating his 14-year-old son with an aluminum pipe. Notice that this isn't Daddy's first experience with child abuse either, given that he was previously charged in 2006. (Those charges were subsequently dropped--of course.)

Notice that the boy's aunt urged the boy to lie about how he got hurt. Somehow I'm guessing this is a paternal aunt. The families of abusers are always sucking up to the abusers. And utterly failing the victims.

And notice that it was "a neighbor" who took the boy to the hospital after the pain became unbearable.

Notice what is entirely missing from this account: a mother. Is there one? Somehow I suspect that this is a single father, but nobody wants to identify him as such.

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/554718/Local-man-indicted-for-beating-son-with-pipe.html?nav=5006

Local man indicted for beating son with pipe
Jefferson County grand jury meets this week
January 20, 2011 - By Edward Marshall / Journal Staff Writer

CHARLES TOWN - Fifteen more indictments issued during the January session of the Jefferson County grand jury were released Wednesday, including one charging a 51-year-old Kearneysville man accused of beating his son with an aluminum pipe last year.

That indictment charges Ralph Joseph Dignazio Jr., of Hillcrest Drive, with one count of felony child abuse causing injury.

The case was investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

According to court records, on Sept. 1, 2010, Sgt. R.L. Fletcher responded to the emergency room at Jefferson Memorial Hospital for a child- abuse complaint.

He spoke with a nurse, who stated that she was told the 14-year-old victim was beaten by his father with an aluminum pipe. The nurse told police that a neighbor brought the teen to the hospital.

In a statement, the victim told officers that he was getting ready for school the morning of the incident when he asked his father if he could ride a different bus.

The victim said he was told no by his father and said "OK," records show.

The teen said he thought his father must have misheard him because he said the man turned around and picked up a metal pipe. The teen told police the pipe was about 4 feet long and about an inch in diameter. At that time, the victim said Dignazio struck him with the pipe in the back and then punched him in the ribs. The victim said he may have then hit a table that was next to his bed, but said he wasn't sure.

Police did find the victim had marks on his back that indicated he was struck with a pipe-like object, as well as red marks near his left rib cage, records show.

After being struck with the pipe, the victim said he went to school but started to have complications due to the injuries he sustained that morning. He said he initially went to the school's nurse but didn't tell her what happened.

The nurse later told police that the victim was brought to her office because he was having difficulty breathing.

The victim was then picked up by his aunt. After telling her what happened, the woman allegedly told the victim that "if anyone asks you what happened, you tell them you fell off the porch," according to the victim's statement to police.

The teen also said his aunt told him that if anyone found out what had happened, his father would be in trouble for child abuse, records show.

The victim was taken home, where he took a nap. After he woke up, he said his ribs started badly hurting, and he was taken to the hospital by his neighbor.

A subsequent criminal background check conducted by police found that the victim's father was previously charged with child abuse in 2006 by the West Virginia State Police. The charge was subsequently dismissed in Jefferson County Magistrate Court.

If convicted, Dignazio faces one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000, or, at the discretion of the court, up to a year in jail.