Parents of bruised, underweight 6-year-old to face abuse trial

By Carlos Illescas

The Denver Post

Posted: 12/03/2010 01:00:00 AM MSTUpdated: 12/03/2010 08:22:46 AM MST

GOLDEN — A 6-year-old boy was repeatedly beaten by his mother, whether she smacked him in the head with a book or hit him with a belt all over his body, according to testimony Thursday in Jefferson County Court.

Christine and Randall Arnold face a felony count of child abuse causing serious bodily injury and one count of misdemeanor child abuse.

Christine Arnold called police Sept. 17 to report that the boy, whom the couple adopted in 2006, had fallen down a flight of stairs.

The child, who suffered a bruised brain and had bruises and abrasions all over his body, weighed only 30 pounds when he was taken to the hospital. Authorities suspected that his parents were not feeding him properly.

Doctors at Children's Hospital said the boy's injuries were not consistent with falling down a flight of stairs.

"When you look at the constellation of injuries, . . . it's clear there is probable cause this injury is not accidental," prosecutor Katie Kurtz said of the boy's head injuries.

After the preliminary hearing Thursday, Jefferson County Judge Jack DeVita ruled there was enough evidence for both parents to go to trial. The Arnolds will be arraigned Feb. 7, when they will be advised of the charges and can enter pleas.

Jefferson County sheriff's investigator Lee Hoag testified that doctors had diagnosed the boy as suffering bleeding in the skull and that he was at a "substantial risk of death."

The boy has been removed from the home.

"There was nothing that he liked about his mother," Hoag testified.

Doctors told authorities that the child suffered the injury to his brain within 72 hours of Sept. 17, when Christine Arnold called police.

Three days before Arnold called police, the boy got in trouble for stealing food from his classmates at Columbine Hills Elementary School.

The next day, his father called the school to report that the boy had the flu. He had been absent for three days when his mother called police to say her son had fallen down the stairs.

Sheriff's investigator Brian Bahl said carpeting on the stairs at the Arnold home was plush and like new. He also testified that doctors did not believe Christine Arnold's story.

The boy had bruises and welts over his body, consistent with being hit with a belt buckle, according to authorities.

"The injuries to this child were consistent with child abuse," Bahl testified Thursday. He said Christine Arnold told him the boy had behavioral problems.

Testimony indicated that Christine Arnold was the boy's primary caregiver, while Randall Arnold worked and only saw the child for about an hour in the morning and an hour after work.

Prosecutors put only two witnesses on the stand. The defense rested without any witness testimony.

During closing arguments however, attorney Kurt Metsger noted that Randall Arnold was not home when the Sept. 17 incident occurred.

"He didn't put (the boy) in unreasonable risk," Metsger said.

Attorney Peter Garin, who is representing Christine Arnold, said there was no evidence presented Thursday that indicated the boy had been spanked on his buttocks and his genitals, as investigators claimed.