Memphis, Tenn., mother and her boyfriend are both in jail after the boyfriend reportedly beat her 3-year-old son so badly that he broke his thighbone, dislocated a vertebra and bruised his lung.
According to the news station, Anthony Gulledge, 30, arrived home Saturday to find that the little boy had eaten the last slice of cheesecake. Gulledge reportedly dragged the boy by his ankle and began whipping him.
The boy’s mother, Katrina Johnson, didn’t take the boy to the hospital until the next day, authorities say, though by state law, Johnson is obligated to report the abuse the day it happens, according to the news station. Once hospital authorities examined the boy, they discovered several injuries and Gulledge was arrested. Police then came and arrested Johnson on Monday.
“Priority for her should have been to protect this child and to stop the abuse from happening,” Barbara King, executive director for the Exchange Club Family Center, told the news station.
“These children are the least able to protect themselves, and these are children that are attacked. If you did that to an adult, it’d be assault and you’d be put in jail,” King said.
According to the news station, both Johnson and Gulledge have been charged with aggravated child abuse.