<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/policeandfire.gif" border=0 > Child-abuse charge being sought against father

September 24, 2008 11:33 pm

— A 37-year-old Joplin father was arrested Tuesday afternoon after Stapleton Elementary School officials noticed bruising on the arm of his 10-year-old son and informed police.
Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department said school officials contacted the Police Department’s school resource officer about the matter and police notified the Missouri Department of Social Services. The boy and his 9-year-old sister were interviewed at the school, and the father was arrested a short time later, Niess said.
Niess said the bruising is suspected to have been caused by the father allegedly striking the boy on Sept. 18. A child-abuse charge was being sought against the father but had not yet been filed by the Jasper County prosecutor’s office late Wednesday afternoon.