Pair pleads not guilty to child abuse counts in Middleborough case
Couple ordered held without bail
BROCKTON - A couple pleaded not guilty to multiple child abuse counts yesterday, the latest legal twist in a case launched when a 7-year-old boy told Middleborough authorities that his mother's boyfriend had burned him with a cigarette.
David J. Privette, 22, of Dorchester and Michelle L. Henry, 30, of Middleborough were arraigned in Brockton Superior Court and will be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing later this month.
The couple appeared at a dangerousness hearing in Wareham District Court in March, and the case was moved to Superior Court in April.
At that first dangerousness hearing, Privette was deemed dangerous and held without bail, but Henry was not. She was held at MCI-Framingham on $5,000 bail. During that first hearing, Privette tried to enter a plea of guilty, but the district court judge would not allow it.
Now the process has begun again in Superior Court.
Privette is charged with mayhem, three counts of assault and battery causing bodily injury to a child, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and intimidation of a witness.
Police said he burned the boy with cigarettes, whipped him with a belt, and urinated on his head.
Henry is charged with assault and battery causing bodily injury to a child, reckless endangerment of a child, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child.
According to court records, the boy said he was burned with his mother present.
The story came to light after the boy told Middleborough school authorities of "whippings" with a belt, according to Assistant District Attorney Sharon Donatelle, chief of the family protection unit.
The school notified the Department of Social Services, but neither the school district nor DSS alerted law enforcement for almost two weeks.
When police stepped in on March 17, cigarette burns were found on the boy's penis and a grisly tale unfolded. Middleborough's chief of police, Gary J. Russell, lashed out at both the school and DSS. DSS later said police should have been called immediately, and School Superintendent Robert M. Sullivan offered a public apology.
"This is a terrible, terrible case," Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said. "Somebody made a huge mistake." He is preparing legislation that would require reporting such cases to law enforcement, "so we will never have another situation like this." Currently, state law requires school officials to notify only DSS.
So far Cruz said no lawmaker has stepped forward to support the proposed legislation, "I'm looking for a sponsor," he said, "so no one slips through the cracks."
