Angelina Williams, Ashland, Ohio mother, her boyfriend, Taylor Desiree Marvin Brown and relative, Robert Michalski Jr. arrested handcuffing 6 year old boy and setting pit bull on child as punishment for failing to clean up as mom claims she didn’t believe she did anything wrong.
She thought it was legal… An Ohio mother, her boyfriend, and an uncle face child endangerment charges after handcuffing the woman’s six-year-old son who was then mauled by a pit bull.
The incident happened Saturday, August 17, at a home in Northeast Ohio, where Ashland County deputies received a call about the boy after the child was attacked by the pit bull.
Appearing in court last week, Angelina Williams, the boy’s mother, claimed that she did not know it was illegal to handcuff a child, after she and the other defendants allegedly did so as punishment after the boy failed to clean up after the dog.
‘I didn’t even know the cuffs were illegal or anything was wrong with it’
The incident led to the boy being bitten on the neck, ear, and necessitating him being flown to a hospital. Despite the egregious damages the boy suffered, the infant is expected to recover, his grandmother said according to WOIO.
Robert Michalski Jr., the boy’s uncle, was identified as the owner of the dog and the residence where the attack took place, where Williams’s boyfriend, Taylor Desiree Marvin Brown, was also present during a ‘family visit.’
‘The dog is not even my dog. The cuffs are not even my cuffs,’ Williams argued in court in Ashland County on Wednesday, insisting that she did not know it was illegal to handcuff a child.
‘I didn’t even know the cuffs were illegal or anything was wrong with it.
‘My uncle told me it was OK.’
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell, meanwhile, painted a picture that sought to provide a backdrop for the chain of events leading up to the boy’s ‘punishment.’
‘This defendant and the co-defendants handcuffed him, both hands, and then applied a second set of cuffs to his feet,’ Tunnell told the judge during the trio’s initial hearing.
Betrayed by mom who was suppose to protect 6 year old boy
‘They were in the process of using a rope to try and tie him to a chair when he came off the chair and then, while on the ground, was attacked by a pit bull.’
He added how Williams and two other co-defendants handcuffed the child at the home that Saturday simply because he did not clean up after the dog.
Williams maintained she did not know she did anything wrong.
‘I never meant any harm,’ the mother protested. ‘I really didn’t.’
The prosecutor stated Williams’s daughter also being present, but was not involved in the attack.
Williams does not have custody of either child but had them both at the time for a scheduled visit. The siblings’ father was not identified.
‘Why the f**k does he have handcuffs on?’
The boy’s grandmother, asking not to be named, told WSAZ-3 how her grandson is expected to recover, despite the horrifying nature of the incident.
‘I come in, and I look at my grandson who is sitting on the floor and – not to cuss – I’m like, “Why the f**k does he have handcuffs on?” the relative said, recalling how she told the three defendants, ‘Get them off of him, now.’
She also described how she jumped in to help him, showing the bite marks left on her hands in the process. Still, compared to her grandson, she said she ‘got lucky’.
‘It was just a reaction, when the dog did it. I automatically just reached down. I saw where the dog was going, like it went in slow motion,’ she said.
During the attack, prosecutors described how the child had been restrained with two sets of handcuffs, on both his hands and feet.
Following the attack, the boy’s mom, her boyfriend, and the owner of the dog were all arrested – however, according to The Ashland County Sheriff, Michalski and the dog left before deputies arrived.
The dog and its owner were found shortly after deputies descended on the scene, hiding in a cubbyhole.
Williams is charged with endangering children, while Michalski is charged with endangering children and tampering with evidence.
Brown, meanwhile, is charged with endangering children and obstruction of justice, and had his bond set at $250,000, Michalski’s bond was set at $150,000, while Willams’ was set at $300,000.
The boy’s grandmother on Monday said that she’s just grateful he is recovering, more than a week after his ordeal.
‘He’s a sweetheart. He really is,’ she said, as the pit bull was taken into custody to be housed as a vicious dog.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing, and is currently with the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office.
