BELLEVILLE, IL — A 12-year-old boy is breathing a sigh of relief after his adoptive parents are arrested and charged with torturing him by making him eat screws and do over 1,000 push-ups as punishment.
The oddly similar looking couple’s entertainment was brought to light after the boy confided in his elementary school nurse that he was being abused at home. After closer examination, the boy was found to have bruises on his back, legs and arms which sparked an abuse investigation.
Investigators state that the boy’s most recent torture session started before school when the boy haphazardly ate a cookie in a less-than-tidy manner. James Jennings, the boy’s stepdaddy, found crumbs in the kitchen and feared his dog would get sick by eating the cookie crumbs and, in turn, handled the situation as any clear-headed adult would.
James and LaShawn Jennings
He allegedly pulled the boy out of his room, beat the boy with a wooden paddle, made him eat the cookie crumbs off the kitchen floor along with some loose screws, then forced him to do 1,000+ push-ups on his knuckles. X-rays would reveal the screws still inside the boy’s stomach.
Lashawn Jennings, 39, the female part of the moon-face equation, adopted the boy 5 years prior, before she married James. She is active duty military and was out of state at the time of the screw-eating incident.
James Jennings is being held on charges of felony aggravated battery, two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery and four counts of misdemeanor endangering the life of a child with a bail of $400,000.
Lashawn is there as well, charged with misdemeanor child endangerment with a bond of $20,000. No other information regarding the mother’s role is available but I can’t help but wonder what part she played, if any.
Tags: Beating, Child Abuse, Crime, Illinois, James Jennings, LaShawn Jennings, screws
