Dad Facing Child Abuse Charges After Surveillance Video Shows Him Brutally Spanking Age 6 Son
There are some situations that are so horrific, so blood-boiling, that when justice is served you can’t help but rejoice. Such is the case with one Tennessee family when authorities responded to claims of child abuse on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.
The video that the mother of the child showed officers at the scene was enough to prove that charges needed to be pressed. Unfortunately, according to his mother, Nia Snow, it was not the 6-year-old’s first experience with abuse.
When Damien was only 2 years old, his mother’s ex-boyfriend fractured 18 of his bones and is still serving time for his actions.
The most recent encounter began when Randy Dickens was disciplining little Damien for bad behavior at school. The spanking quickly turned into something much more sinister.
“All of a sudden, his whole body just started going into it,” Snow told Fox 17. “He was drooling out of his mouth, he was putting so much effort into it, that’s how bad it was.”
Dickens then shoved Damien to the ground. Surveillance cameras caught the young boy, in an attempt to get away from his father, running into his bedroom.
But Dickens seemingly followed and continued to abuse the little boy by kicking him.
Snow was a witness to the entire heartbreaking scenario. She told Fox 17, “The whole time it was happening, he was screaming my name.”
Knowing that Dickens was armed and not wanting to elevate his anger to a place where he would feel like he needed to use it, she waited until she could convince him to leave before she called law enforcement.
“I tried to do things the right way,” Snow said. “I did what the police told me to do, and I didn’t want nobody getting shot, and I knew that’s what would’ve happened, so I tried to be smart.”
When deputies arrived at their home, Dickens was not there, but Snow showed them videos caught by surveillance cameras: one on the front porch and another in Damien’s bedroom.
Dickens refused to return to the house while the officers were there, but two rifles were removed based on the nature of the crimes.
He eventually turned himself in the following day, but has since been released on bond. He is not allowed to make contact with Snow or her children. Dickens has been charged with child abuse and neglect as a result of the video footage, according to Fox 17.
Snow also shared with Fox 17 that Dickens abused her as well. Now, she is speaking out to encourage any current victims of abuse to reach out for help sooner rather than later.
She said, “It does something to your kids, whether you see it or not, and you might feel it, but you have to do something about it, because it affects them, and something like this will end up happening.”
Thankfully little Damien and Snow are both being protected from Dickens and can rest in the fact that justice has begun to be served.
If you or someone you know is in a situation similar to this one, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for help.
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