Henryville man charged after girl shows bruising

Clark County

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September 17, 2012

Henryville man charged after girl shows bruising

Argument apparently started between man, family over money

By GARY POPP gary.popp@newandtribune.com The News and Tribune Mon Sep 17, 2012, 05:48 PM EDT

HENRYVILLE — Clark County Sheriff’s Department officers have arrested a 65-year-old Henryville man for an assault on a 4-year-old girl, deputies reported.

William Spencer Hale, of 21214 U.S. 31, was taken into custody after deputies responded to his home for a fight call Thursday afternoon. Upon arrival, deputies spoke with the child’s 23-year-old mother, who was staying at Hale’s home with her mother and daughter.

The woman told deputies, according to a the incident report, that her brother and stepfather had come to Hale’s home to pick her up, and as she tried to leave, Hale would not let her exit the home by locking the front door. She said to the officers that Hale had become upset because her brother owed him money.

The woman told deputies that as she and Hale argued, the child stepped between them, at which time Hale grabbed the girl by her forearm and jerked her off the ground. Deputies reported that a bruise on the child’s right forearm was visible from at least 10 feet away.

The woman reported that as the argument continued, she went down a staircase in the home, and Hale followed her in an attempt to prevent her from leaving the house.

The woman was able to get out of the home and called police, informing officers that Hale had a handgun. She also informed officers over the phone that Hale had come out of the residence and a fight had ensued between him and her brother, and that Hale had pulled out the handgun during the fight.

Deputies reported that there was no mention that he had pointed the firearm at anyone during the dispute.

While deputies spoke with Hale, he said that he had gotten into a fight with the woman’s brother because he owed him money. He also told deputies that the fight ended when he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the ground.

Hale said that he had not attempted to prevent the woman from leaving the home — prior to the physical fight with her brother — but that he did follow her around the home asking her about the money owed to him by her brother, according to the report.

He also told deputies that he had grabbed the girl by the arm, after the child said something rude to her mother.

When asked what the child had said, Hale could not say, according to the incident report.

Hale was preliminarily charged with battery, a class D felony.

If found guilty of the charge, Hale could face a maximum of three years in the Indiana Department of Correction.