A Poplar Bluff mom was to appear in court this afternoon after she recently was charged with hitting her young son with what authorities described as the "duty belt" she used as a law enforcement student.
Having previously waived her arraignment, Gwendolyn Marie Stroh of the 300 block of Roxie Drive was to appear at 1 p.m. before Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth for an announcement in her case.
The 23-year-old is charged with the Class D felony of abuse or neglect of a child.
The charge, which was filed May 15 by Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher, accuses Stroh of knowingly causing a child, less than 18 year of age, to "suffer physical injury as a result of abuse by hitting him with a belt and tying his hands with a phone charging cord while she spanked him" on May 7.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Poplar Bluff Police Department, which began on the afternoon of May 8.
Police Patrolman Jeremy Elless, according to Detective Andy Cleaveland's probable-cause statement, was contacted by Stacy Sloan, a worker with the Missouri Children's Division.
"Sloan advised Elless that she had received a hotline report stating" a 6-year-old boy had a "large bruise on his leg and that his mother (Gwendolyn Stroh) hit him with her work belt," Cleaveland said.
Elless, the detective said, went to Stroh's Roxie Drive home, where he contacted her.
Stroh, Cleaveland said, had custody of her son since Saturday, May 5. The boy had been with his father prior to that time.
Cleaveland said Stroh denied seeing the bruise.
"She stated (her son) has mental health issues, acts out and states things that are not true," Cleaveland said. "(She) stated she had not disciplined (her son) since he was in her custody on (May 5). She is unaware how the bruise occurred."
Cleaveland said the child told the Children's Division worker his mother had "hit him with her school belt. This occurred over an incident involving bubble gum."
The boy, Cleaveland said, also accused his mother of tying his hands with a phone charging cord while she spanked him.
"She then refused to give him any dinner," said, Cleaveland, who indicated the child he reported the incident took place on May 7.
While on the scene, Cleaveland said, officers were shown the home.
"The house was in a state of disarray," Cleaveland said. "There was a sink full of dirty dishes.
"The floors were sticky and hadn't been cleaned in some time, and there were clothing items strewn throughout every floor of the residence."
While inside, Cleaveland said, the officers found that Stroh's son did not have a bed.
"Gwendolyn advised that sometimes (her son) sleeps with her, sometimes he sleeps with his siblings, and that sometimes (he) sleeps on the floor," Cleaveland said. "When asked, Gwendolyn stated it had been around three months since (her son) has had a bed."
Without being asked, Cleaveland said, the child brought the belt his mother allegedly used to hit him, as well as the cord allegedly used to tie him up, to officers.
The items were seized as evidence, and the bruising on the boy's leg was photographed.
"The belt that (the child) provided us with appears to match the pattern of bruising on his legs," Cleaveland explained. "The belt has a metal buckle on the end, and the buckle is the same size as some of the darker bruises."
Sloan, according to Cleaveland, contacted a juvenile officer, who began the paperwork to remove the children from Stroh's home. The children subsequently were placed in protective custody.
Stroh, Cleaveland said, appeared to have what were described as "self-inflicted scaring and current cuts" on both her right and left inner forearms.
"When asked about this, she immediately put her hands behind her back, stated she was getting help for it, and she is going to the Missouri Sheriff's (Association) Law Enforcement training academy."
Cleaveland said a forensic interview was conducted May 10 with the boy.
During that interview, Cleaveland said, the child "disclosed that mom (Gwendolyn Stroh) made a large bruise on his leg" by using a belt while he was in the living room of their home.
At one point, the detective said, the child accused his mother of sitting on him while she struck him multiple times with the belt she "uses for school."
The belt, Cleaveland said, was determined to be the "inner duty belt" that Stroh uses while in the training academy.
Cleaveland said the child also told about a second incident during which his "mom took a black phone charger cord and made loop in it for (his) wrists to go into.
"(Stroh) put (her son's) wrists into this restraint and subsequently whipped (him) with the black belt again."
Cleaveland said the boy told the forensic interviewer that after his mom allegedly hit him with the belt, "his legs felt and looked like a 'scary movie.'"
The child reportedly further told the interviewer his "mom should go to jail so that she won't hit him."
At this time, Stroh is free on bond.
According to Casenet, Stroh's bond originally was set at $20,000 cash or surety; however, her attorney, Danny Moore, filed a motion for bond reduction on May 16, the same day he filed a written waiver of arraignment on her behalf.
Oesterreicher reportedly made a request for an own-recognizance bond, which the court granted.
Training academy officials report, per the academy's rules and regulations, Stroh has been suspended by the academy director pending disposition of her criminal case.