Dad charged with felony battery involving 5-year-old son; is this a single father? (Baxter County, Arkansas)

Is DAVID DEWAYNE SUTTERFIELD a single father? Notice that there is no mention of a mother in the home, and that the reporter only mentions "another person" in the home. If this is Mom, why not say so? In addition, if this were Mom, then wouldn't she be held responsible for "allowing" the abuse by not contacting the authorities?

Once again, the media tiptoes around the fact that many child abuse stories involve fathers and "missing" mothers. And with a father who is this volatile and violent, you have to wonder how and/or why the mother has apparently been eliminated from the picture.

http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/2014/07/30/david-sutterfield-child-battery-arrest-mountain-home/13369055/

Baxter Co. man charged with child abuse

THV 11 Staff, news source

5:36 a.m. CDT July 31, 2014

BAXTER CO., Ark. (KTHV) – A rural Mountain Home man is being charged with felony battery on a child. The Baxter County Sheriff's Office got a complaint from the child's grandmother July 28 who said she picked up the child to spend the night and noticed the 5-year-old boy had bruises on his face and neck.

The suspect is the child's father, David Dewayne Sutterfield, denied causing the injuries, however the Sheriff's Office said he gave several different versions of what caused them.

Another person in the home told the Sheriff's Office they witnessed Sutterfield grabbing the child's face in a way that would have caused the injuries as well as shoving and hitting the child.

Sutterfield was arrested and booked on a charge of second degree battery. He is being held on $25,000 bond.