After allegedly hitting child with machete handle
A Sallisaw man has been charged with a felony count of child abuse in Sequoyah County District Court after allegedly using unreasonable force on a child under the age of four in an incident that reportedly occurred in 2021.
Joseph W. Crowley, 25, was formally charged on May 19 and an arrest warrant was issued for him the same day, according to court records. He received a $15,000 bond and is now set to appear before Associate District Judge Kyle Waters for a June 28 felony disposition docket.
Sallisaw police reported on the evening of Sept. 13, 2021, they responded to Delaware Street in reference to a possible assault where they spoke with Crowley.
C rowley claimed he and another individual had been in an altercation and the man had allegedly threatened to “kill him with a machete.” He said the man punched him in the face so he tackled him and took him to the ground, according to the probable cause affidavit. He alleged that’s when the man threatened him.
The other man who allegedly assaulted Crowley told authorities he’d punched Crowley because while watching a security camera, he allegedly saw Crowley slamming a small child’s head into a headboard, busting the child’s mouth.
A witness showed police the video footage of the alleged incident, along with a second video that reportedly showed Crowley hitting the child in the mouth around six times, and then striking the child in the back of the head. The video also reportedly showed a large bruise on the child’s cheek where Crowley had “accidentally hit the child in the face with a machete handle,” according to the affidavit in the case.
Crowley was detained at that time and transported to the Sallisaw Police Department, and later transported to the Sequoyah County Detention Center.
The crime is punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or both fine and imprisonment.
