PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria man must remain in jail after allegedly abusing a child under his care.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says 47-year-old Sammie Wright Jr. is charged with Aggravated Battery after his arrest on Friday. A judge ordered him detained at a hearing on Monday.
Prosecutors say a woman flagged down police on the city’s south end on Friday, telling officers that her sister called her after raising concerns about Wright’s behavior while watching her children. The children are six and three-year-olds, with Wright as the father of the three-year-old.
The woman flagged police after noticing cuts and bruises on the six-year-old’s arm, as well as injuries to his abdomen, chest, and back.
The three-year-old child was not injured.
The six-year-old child was taken to a hospital, where police saw injuries to the child’s face, arms, abdomen, back, thighs, and shins. Several of the injuries appeared to be caused by a cord or a rope.
The six-year-old was asked who caused the injuries and reportedly responded “Sam.”
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