Idle, a patrol officer for the Ansonia Police Department, is on paid administrative leave.
The Darke County Sheriff’s Office responded shortly after 7 p.m. Aug. 3 to a 911 call made by the mother of an 8-year-old boy who said she saw Idle strike and kick her child, according to an affidavit.
The boy’s mother said she and her two sons had been living with Idle for about three months after they moved from Michigan. The evening of Aug. 3 she was alone outside in the garage on the phone when she said Idle came out and told her she needed to get her son out of his house. He turned around and went back inside with her following, the document stated.
“The victim’s mother advised the defendant immediately began striking and kicking her 8-year-old son as he was balled up on the floor. The victim’s mother advised she had to push the defendant off of the victim,” the affidavit read.
The boy told police Idle was mad at him for lying. He said Idle grabbed him by his neck with both hands. He suffered redness and bruising on his chin and on his neck near both ears. He also had redness, welts and bruising reportedly from being spanked and kicked, the document stated.
Idle told police that he spanked the boy about six times in the rear with his hand. He said he put the boy in the corner and held him against the wall by the back of the neck.
“The defendant advised he would spank the victim and he would fall down. The defendant would pick the victim back up by the arm and spank him again for six more times,” the affidavit stated.
Ohio was the last state in the U.S. to have a specific law against strangulation. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in early January, and it took effect 90 days later on April 4. The crime is a felony of the fifth- to second-degree depending on the level of harm.
Idle, who is free after posting $20,000 bail, faces six to 18 months in prison if convicted of the fourth-degree felony charge, court records show.
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