CLEVELAND — Authorities charged a Cleveland man Tuesday with using a weightlifting belt on his 9-year-old stepson.
The boy told a teacher at Cleveland Elementary he was afraid to go home, a Rowan County Sheriff’s Office report said. The teacher found bruising on the child’s legs.
School officials reported the incident to the Department of Social Services on May 21. The Sheriff’s Office was also notified.
Investigator Clint Mauldin charged 32-year-old Kevin Keener, of Calico Farm Court, with two counts of misdemeanor assault on a child and one count of misdemeanor child abuse.
The report said the 9-year-old was spanked with the weightlifting belt.
Keener was taken into custody Tuesday and was released after posting a $500 bond.