Thoun Rin heads to the stand during his change of plea hearing in Salem Superior Court.Paul Bilodeau / Staff Photographer
The Eagle Tribune
July 17, 2009
By Crystal Bozek
cbozek@eagletribune.com
SALEM, Mass. — A Lawrence man will serve five to seven years in state prison for beating his girlfriend's 9-year-old son so savagely the child's eyes nearly swelled shut.
In a plea bargain, Thoun Rin, 31, of 15 Packard St., yesterday admitted in Salem Superior Court to several charges of assault and battery on a child, the result of a beating in late January that left the child hospitalized.
Rin repeatedly punched the boy in the head and stomach, striking him about 10 times. He held the child by the neck, causing him to pass out for a short time. When the boy tried covering up with his arms, Rin pulled them away and pummeled him some more.
"He said he fell asleep when the defendant was hitting him," Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick said.
Rin only stopped when he heard the boy's mother coming up the stairs.
When the mother saw her son bleeding and swollen by his bed, Rin said, "Look what happens when you jump on the bed."
The boy initially told his mother he fell off the bed. But he later told police Rin, who had moved in with his mother, hit him all the time. This time it had been for not using a baby wipe after he went to the bathroom. But it happened for just about anything.
"I have met with the 9-year-old," Strasnick told Superior Court Judge Jack Lu yesterday. "No person should be put through what this 9-year-old child has been put through."
Rin showed no emotion even as the prosecutor read, word for word, the police reports detailing the beatings on the child.
But Rin's lawyer, Carol Cahill, said Rin was sorry for what he put the boy through.
"He was extremely remorseful," Cahill said of her talks with Rin. "He was ashamed of what he's done."
Cahill said while Rin, who came here from Cambodia at age 8, never offered her any excuses for the beatings, he spoke of growing up in an abusive household himself.
"He had seen this kind of discipline and it was something he was used to," she said. "It was a combination of his boyhood experience and alcohol."
Cahill said he asked her to negotiate a plea deal with the prosecution to save the family, and the boy, from having to testify.
But avoiding a trial didn't hurt him either.
Under state law, Rin could have faced up to 15 years on his first charge of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury and another five years each on four charges of assault and battery on a child if found guilty at trial.
Besides the five to seven years, Rin was given three years of probation, where he must remain alcohol free, attend anger management courses and have no contact with any of the family members.
Strasnick yesterday handed the judge a picture the boy drew to show how he felt, along with a letter from his mother.
The documents were not made public in court yesterday. The boy's mother could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.
The boy had suffered two black eyes, a cut on the back of his head, and bruises all over his body.
Police discovered the abuse after a nurse at Lawrence General Hospital reported the boy's injuries to the state Department of Children and Families.
The Department of Children and Families notified police a bone scan of the boy showed likely compression fractures of four or five vertebrae in the boy's upper back and one in his lower back. It also showed breaks in his upper arm bone, two ribs and the right pelvic bone.
These were not injuries caused by a fall from a bed, they said. Some of them were older.
Police arrested Rin after learning he had been the subject of a previous investigation by the state Department of Children and Families for alleged physical abuse of the boy and his 3-year-old brother.
He had been ordered to leave the house by the agency in the past.
Past DCF reports detailed not only beatings, but cruel punishments as well. Rin would make the boy stand up with his arms stretched out, holding heavy books for hours.
When interviewed at the hospital, the boy initially told his mother and police he was jumping on the bed with his brother and fell off.
But later, the boy told of the beatings. He had been afraid Rin would hurt his 3-year-old brother if he told the truth.
The boy said he never told his mother about the daily beatings because Rin told him he would hit him more if he did. He said Rin has slapped him in front of his mother before, but that when he did, she told him to stop.
By Crystal Bozek
cbozek@eagletribune.com
SALEM, Mass. — A Lawrence man will serve five to seven years in state prison for beating his girlfriend's 9-year-old son so savagely the child's eyes nearly swelled shut.
In a plea bargain, Thoun Rin, 31, of 15 Packard St., yesterday admitted in Salem Superior Court to several charges of assault and battery on a child, the result of a beating in late January that left the child hospitalized.
Rin repeatedly punched the boy in the head and stomach, striking him about 10 times. He held the child by the neck, causing him to pass out for a short time. When the boy tried covering up with his arms, Rin pulled them away and pummeled him some more.
"He said he fell asleep when the defendant was hitting him," Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick said.
Rin only stopped when he heard the boy's mother coming up the stairs.
When the mother saw her son bleeding and swollen by his bed, Rin said, "Look what happens when you jump on the bed."
The boy initially told his mother he fell off the bed. But he later told police Rin, who had moved in with his mother, hit him all the time. This time it had been for not using a baby wipe after he went to the bathroom. But it happened for just about anything.
"I have met with the 9-year-old," Strasnick told Superior Court Judge Jack Lu yesterday. "No person should be put through what this 9-year-old child has been put through."
Rin showed no emotion even as the prosecutor read, word for word, the police reports detailing the beatings on the child.
But Rin's lawyer, Carol Cahill, said Rin was sorry for what he put the boy through.
"He was extremely remorseful," Cahill said of her talks with Rin. "He was ashamed of what he's done."
Cahill said while Rin, who came here from Cambodia at age 8, never offered her any excuses for the beatings, he spoke of growing up in an abusive household himself.
"He had seen this kind of discipline and it was something he was used to," she said. "It was a combination of his boyhood experience and alcohol."
Cahill said he asked her to negotiate a plea deal with the prosecution to save the family, and the boy, from having to testify.
But avoiding a trial didn't hurt him either.
Under state law, Rin could have faced up to 15 years on his first charge of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury and another five years each on four charges of assault and battery on a child if found guilty at trial.
Besides the five to seven years, Rin was given three years of probation, where he must remain alcohol free, attend anger management courses and have no contact with any of the family members.
Strasnick yesterday handed the judge a picture the boy drew to show how he felt, along with a letter from his mother.
The documents were not made public in court yesterday. The boy's mother could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.
The boy had suffered two black eyes, a cut on the back of his head, and bruises all over his body.
Police discovered the abuse after a nurse at Lawrence General Hospital reported the boy's injuries to the state Department of Children and Families.
The Department of Children and Families notified police a bone scan of the boy showed likely compression fractures of four or five vertebrae in the boy's upper back and one in his lower back. It also showed breaks in his upper arm bone, two ribs and the right pelvic bone.
These were not injuries caused by a fall from a bed, they said. Some of them were older.
Police arrested Rin after learning he had been the subject of a previous investigation by the state Department of Children and Families for alleged physical abuse of the boy and his 3-year-old brother.
He had been ordered to leave the house by the agency in the past.
Past DCF reports detailed not only beatings, but cruel punishments as well. Rin would make the boy stand up with his arms stretched out, holding heavy books for hours.
When interviewed at the hospital, the boy initially told his mother and police he was jumping on the bed with his brother and fell off.
But later, the boy told of the beatings. He had been afraid Rin would hurt his 3-year-old brother if he told the truth.
The boy said he never told his mother about the daily beatings because Rin told him he would hit him more if he did. He said Rin has slapped him in front of his mother before, but that when he did, she told him to stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment