Dad faces assault charge for beating 8-year-old son (Patterson, New Jersey)

UNNAMED DAD. No mention of a mother in the home.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/29/patterson-dad-beat-son-belt-charged-assault-putnam-sheriff-says/8449611/

Patterson dad beat son with belt, is charged, cops say

Terence Corcoran 3:40 p.m. EDT April 29, 2014

Brewster school officials suspected the 8-year-old boy was being abused, alerted police

PATTERSON – A Patterson dad faces an assault charge after he struck his 8-year-old son with a belt, causing welts and "substantial pain" to his back, the Putnam sheriff said.

Brewster school officials suspected the boy was being abused and alerted police.

Administrators at John F. Kennedy Elementary School notified police on Friday of their suspicions, Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith said in a release.

Investigators, working with the District Attorney's Office and Child Protective Services, determined that the 29-year-old father had struck the boy several times, Smith said.

Police charged the father Friday with second-degree assault, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Town Justice Anthony Mole issued an order preventing him from going near the boy and ordered him back to court on May 8.

Police declined to identify the father to protect the boy's identity.