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Poland woman accused of battering autistic boy
POLAND — A Poland woman is facing a felony charge over accusations she beat an autistic boy left in her care for a short time Sunday evening.
Sharon Gatti, 61, was charged this week in Putnam Superior Court with Level 6 felony battery on a person less than 14 years old.
She is accused of whipping the boy with the cord of a gaming system “because the dog got out of the house.” Later, she allegedly threw rotten fish food on him.
The victim’s mother is dating Gatti’s son, Joshua Doane. She and Doane left the boy in Gatti’s care for about 45 minutes on Sunday evening.
The mother told Deputy Riley Houghton she and Doane returned from the store to find the child sitting in the yard, crying, Meanwhile, she said Gatti was standing on the porch throwing rotten fish food on him.
The boy told his mother that Gatti beat him because the dog got out of the house. While she was explaining this to Houghton, the mother also told Houghton and Deputy Tanner Brown that the young man is autistic.
Standing in close proximity to the boy, Houghton said he could smell a strong odor of fish food.
Houghton also observed the welts consistent with being struck with cordage on the boy’s left shoulder, neck and shoulder blade area.
Gatti made a voluntary statement to Houghton, saying that when she asked him to look for the dog, he cursed at her.
“He came up the steps and he kicked me,” Gatti said, according to the probable cause affidavit in the case. “I had a cord in my hand and hit him.”
Gatti also told Houghton when the mother started yelling at her, she went to her bedroom and locked her door. She said the mother then opened her door, got in her face and hit her in the head.
However, Houghton could not find evidence of either the boy or mother hitting Gatti and could find no evidence of forced entry into her bedroom.
Doane told deputies, “I know she’s my mom but that’s not right.”
He said, however, that he did not want to provide a statement regarding the incident.
Putnam County Dispatch found that Doane had an active warrant in an unrelated case, so he was taken into custody along with his mother.
Deputy Brown contacted the Department of Child Services regarding the incident. The victim’s mother later told Deputy Houghton DCS had put a safety plan in place that included Gatti having no contact with the child.