HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The jury for a man accused of four counts of abuse of a child found him “not guilty” in District Court Wednesday evening.
Bradley Cole had been accused of causing severe bruising on the bodies of two boys, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old. Two of the charges were alternate counts to the other two, meaning had he been found guilty, he would have been sentenced on only two of the counts. The state alleged cruel and inhuman corporal punishment in the case for the time he was asked to watch the kids by their mother while she and her sister were at work. The alleged crimes occurring back on Aug. 1, 2013.
The defense was able to convince the jury that there was enough evidence to suggest that there could be others who could have caused the wounds or that they could have happened some other way. They got the case about 4:20 p.m., Wednesday afternoon and had a verdict around 5:40 p.m.
They called only one witness, that being Hutchinson Police Detective Michael Collins who when answering a defense question admitted that he got several different stories from the two boys as to how or who injured them. Both the mother and her sister told the detective that they do spank the kids, but not with any object. On cross examination, the state showed a photo of one the kids that showed that a belt was used on his bottom that left bruising and that who ever used it had to be left handed.
On the stand Wednesday morning was Hutchinson Police Officer Tim Wilson who was the first to report to the scene after the mother contacted police. He says he saw the kids bodies and says there was indications of trauma, grabbing and also indications that the kids were struck by a possible object, thought to be a belt. He says he also noticed lacerations within some of the bruising, in particular, on one of the boys faces. But, on cross examination, he admitted that some of the bruising appeared to be older wounds meaning they would have to been made prior to Cole watching them. The officer was also told that the two kids do play rough at times. He also told the jury that there mother and her sister didn’t notice any change in the kids behavior as a result of the alleged incident.
Jane Holzrichter, a forensic interviewer and Director of the Child Advocacy Center at Horizon’s Mental Heath Center was also was on the stand Wednesday while state showed the jury the taped interviews she did with the kids on Aug. 6, 2013. On cross examination, she told of one of the boys telling her that some of the injuries could have occurred when he was with other kids, saying they poke him. They also never mentioned to her that they were being punished by Cole because one of them wet their pants.
After the state rested, the defense asked that the charges be dropped because the testimony of the kids on Tuesday didn’t result in any real information which showed they were struck by the defendant. But, the state argued that even without the kids testimony, there is “strong circumstantial evidence.”
One thing that could have hurt the states case is the information that the victims mother was in a relationship with the defendant at the time of the alleged crimes. District Attorney Keith Schroeder told us after the verdict, they didn’t know that.
And something the jury didn’t get to hear is the pending methamphetamine case against Cole. When police made an arrest for the child abuse case, he allegedly has 15 empty baggies with meth residue and also some syringes. Schroeder says that case is still pending, but the jury never got to hear that.