Florida Man Beats Girlfriend's 5-Year-Old Son Using Mop For Wetting Bed: Deputies

An empty courtroom at the Beirut Palace of Justice -- bureaucracy and rampant corruption have long delayed verdicts and judicial proceedings in Lebanon — A 32-year-old man beat up a 5-year-old child for urinating in his bed in Florida. AFP

KEY POINTS

The mother of the child felt something was off and used a camera app to check on her boyfriend and her son
She said she saw the man punching her 5-year-old repeatedly in the head
The man had a history of charges dating back to 2010 that included burglary and fraud

A Florida man has been arrested after he allegedly hit his girlfriend's 5-year-old son using a mop handle and left the child with a fractured skull and other injuries Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Shawn Stone, allegedly assaulted the 5-year-old boy after the child urinated in his bed in Deland, Florida, Fox 35 reported.

After allegedly beating the child, Stone fled the scene aboard a four-wheeler but was eventually taken into custody by deputies with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The child's mother told deputies that she left her house Wednesday for a doctor's appointment along with her daughter. However, she said she had a "gut feeling" that something was off at her home.

The unidentified woman said she checked on her son using a camera application on her phone and allegedly saw Stone standing over the boy and punching him repeatedly in the head, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The mother told authorities that her son was lying in bed and curled up in the fetal position during the alleged assault. The child pleaded with the man to stop, but Stone instead allegedly picked up a mop and used it to hit the boy even more, deputies said.

At this point, the woman told deputies that the camera application that she was using had stopped working.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found the boy with bruising on his face, eyes and the top of his head as well as a lacerated lip and a bruise on the child's left thigh. The boy also sustained a fractured skull from the attack.

The child was taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries. His current condition is unclear.

Stone told deputies that he got angry when the child urinated in his bed. He admitted to slapping the boy but denied hitting the minor with a mop.

Stone is now facing charges of aggravated child abuse.

The woman told authorities that Stone had a history of methamphetamine use, although he had not used it in a while.

Jail records showed that Stone has been arrested a dozen times since 2010. That year alone, the Florida man was arrested six times, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.

Among the charges against Stone were burglary, armed burglary, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, grand theft of a firearm, grand theft, dealing in stolen property and defrauding a pawn shop.