Police arrested a Bloomington woman Monday after the Department of Child Services found she had abused and neglected her 7-year-old son.
Kahlua Jones, 27, is facing charges of neglect of a dependent and domestic battery. Jones’ son went to his school nurse Oct. 25, complaining about a pain in his upper left bicep. The nurse noticed a suspicious-looking, large, red and raised welt on his arm, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Dana Cole said.
The boy was taken to the school counselor. He told the counselor and nurse his mother had whipped him with a Nintendo Wii gaming controller. The school contacted DCS, and a staff member came to the school to interview the boy and take pictures of the injuries, police said.
After reporting the injury, the boy was not at school for the next two days. Jones told DCS the 7-year-old was staying at his relatives’ house in Indianapolis. However, DCS officials told police they thought she was hiding the child.
On Monday, DCS was able to track down the child and took him to Susie’s Place, a child advocacy center where potential child abuse victims are interviewed. During the interview, the child went back on his previous story, at first saying his injury was from fighting with a friend and then claiming he had a fall.
Later in the interview, the child said his mom only whips him with a big, long, brown belt. He also told officials his mother frequently has friends over to smoke marijuana in the kitchen while he watches TV, police said.
A BPD detective and DCS employees searched Jones’ house Monday and were unable to find the belt the child described, but did find the Wii controller and console hidden in a closet. Jones refused to speak with officers and requested they contact her attorney.
Based on interviews and the house search, the detective thought Jones had coaxed her son into changing his story, and she was arrested Monday.
