After 3d call to DSS, man arrested for burning child
(Middleborough Police Department)
David Privette, 22, has been charged with assault and battery on a child and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, which included cigarettes and a belt.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
A man who had been reported twice to the Department of Social Services for allegedly abusing a 7-year-old in Middleborough has been arrested and charged with using a cigarette to repeatedly burn the boy's genitals.
A Middleborough school made a third report to DSS on Monday and David Privette was arrested, according to a police report. On Dec. 19, 2007, and on March 4, a school nurse filed reports to DSS that made similar allegations of abuse, which included striking the boy with a belt and urinating on his head while he was taking a bath, according to the report.
It was not immediately clear what DSS did in response to the earlier allegations of abuse. DSS spokesman Richard Nangle has failed to provide any information about the case today despite repeated phone messages and e-mails.
Privette, a 22-year-old from Dorchester, is described in the police report as the boyfriend of the child’s mother. He was arraigned Tuesday in Wareham District Court on charges that include assault and battery on a child and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, which included cigarettes and a belt. Privette is being held on $500 cash bail.
The child attends the Memorial Early Childhood Center on North Main Street. The allegations of repeated abuse are outlined in a five-page arrest report from the Middleborough police, which is summarized below.
The boy had been “very emotional” in school the past few days and at one point would not come out of a bathroom stall. Principal Virginia Levesque went to talk to the child, who told her that he was afraid of his mother’s boyfriend because he hit him with a belt and burned him with cigarettes, according to the report. The boy showed the principal and a school nurse two burns on his pelvis and one burn on his buttocks. The burns appeared to be seven to 10 days old and had begun to heal.
The nurse, identified as Lori Johnson, told police that she had noticed abrasions and bruising on the boy’s back on March 4. Johnson said she alerted DSS, according to the report. On March 4, the boy told the nurse he had fallen on ice. On Monday, the boy changed his story and told school officials that Privette had burned him with cigarettes and hit him with a belt.
The boy also said on Monday that Privette had “peed on his head while he was taking a bath,” according to the report. The boy told school officials that when he told his mother she said that Privette “wouldn’t hurt him.”
The nurse also told police that she notified DSS of possible abuse in December when the boy told her Privette hit him with a belt. He began to cry and told Johnson, “I don’t want no more whippings,” according to the report.
Police and several DSS workers went to the boy’s home in Middleborough Monday evening, according to the report. When police arrived, the boy’s mother said that Privette did not live there. As they walked inside, police said they noticed a man run up the stairs to the second floor. The officers followed the man upstairs and he was identified as David Jones. The man was arrested, and police later determined that his name was David Privette.
