A 32-year-old man who said his “anger got the best” of him, is accused of brutally punching, kicking, and beating a 5-year-old child who peed the bed with a mop with “such force” that it broke on the child’s body.
Shawn Stone was arrested by Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Tuesday, May 9, on charges of aggravated child abuse.
According to an arrest report filed by VCSO, deputies were called to AdventhHealth DeLand (701 W Plymouth Avenue) on Tuesday morning in reference to a reported child abuse case.
During an interview with the victim’s mother, police were told that the mother had left her home earlier that morning with her daughter to head to Orlando. The mother indicated that she was going to Orlando for an appointment “related to her Cerebral Palsy diagnosis.”
While the mother was en route to Orlando, she says she had “gut feeling” that she couldn’t explain and decided to review her in-home security system through her phone, which shows a live view of her living room.
After she opened the video feed, she saw Stone standing over her son while he was laying in his bed. The mother says she saw Stone punching the child in his head repeatedly. The child left the bed, after which Stone began kicking him with his heel.
The mother says she could hear the child begging for Stone to stop and, after a few moments, he did. She says Stone then went to retrieve a mop that he used to begin striking the child. Stone allegedly struck the child with “such force” that the head of the mop broke off.
While watching the video, the mother turned her car around and began driving back home when the camera application stopped working. She texted Stone that he was “so [expletive] stupid,” that he “hurt” the 5-year-old child, and that he had intentionally disconnected the camera.
“You hurt him didn’t you, that’s why the camera isn’t working, huh,” reads a text from the mother to Stone.
The mother says that when she got back to the residence, she confronted Stone. She says Stone told her that he hated her and hated her child before grabbing the keys to their four-wheel ATV and leaving.
The child was transported to the hospital, where medical personnel diagnosed him with multiple injuries, including broken ribs, a skull fracture, and multiple other ailments. The child was transported to Arnold Palmer’s Children’s Hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
Stone was taken into custody a short time later and was interviewed by police.
During an interview, Stone told police that the child wears diapers and, at times, has “intentionally urinated and defecated on the floor, his bed, and even his older brother’s bed,” according to the arrest report.
That morning, Stone discovered that the child had urinated in his bed and says his “anger got the best” of him.
“I admit to it, I slapped him in the mouth…that’s a little further than discipline man, that’s wrong, that’s wrong of me to do, I shouldn’t have done it,” said Stone to police. Stone admitted to grabbing a mop to “scare” the child, but says he never hit him with it.
Stone told police that he and the boy’s mother have “had it rough lately,” and had been struggling with bills. He told police that his temper got the best of him, but denied repeatedly striking, kicking, or hitting the child with the mop.
The injuries that the child sustained were inconsistent with Stone’s account of the incident, according to police.
When Stone was asked about the other injuries that the child incurred, including multiple burns on his back and shoulders, he told police that the boy is constantly “playing rough” with his older brother and that the burns could have been from Stone serving the boy oatmeal.
Stone is currently being held at the Volusia County Jail on no bond. He faces a charge of aggravated child abuse. Court records show that Stone has been arrested 11 times since 2010.