Photo supplied by family attorney Bobby R. Taylor
An 11-year-old boy suffered kidney failure after being beaten on the back and buttocks with a tree branch, a police affidavit says.
Posted on 07/09/2002 7:10:44 AM PDT by Illbay
By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN -- An 11-year-old boy who read the wrong Bible verse at church was severely beaten with a tree branch by a Baptist pastor and the pastor's brother, the boy's family said.
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Photo supplied by family attorney Bobby R. Taylor
An 11-year-old boy suffered kidney failure after being beaten on the back and buttocks with a tree branch, a police affidavit says.
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The boy suffered kidney failure as a result of the beating and spent the Fourth of July weekend in the intensive care unit of Brackenridge Hospital sedated with morphine, according to a police affidavit.
Austin police issued arrest warrants Monday for Joshua W. Thompson, 22, of Austin, and his twin brother, Caleb D. Thompson. They are wanted on charges of first-degree felony injury to a child.
Joshua Thompson is pastor of the Spanish-language congregation at the Capital City Baptist Church. Caleb Thompson is an assistant to the pastors. They are accused of using an inch-thick tree branch to discipline the boy.
"(The boy) was accused of not taking this very seriously," said Bobby Taylor, an attorney for the family.
According to Taylor and family members, the beating occurred Wednesday while the boy and other children practiced for a Bible competition.
"He was trying to find the verse and he was on the wrong verse, and they thought he was goofing around," the boy's mother said.
She said church assistants summoned Joshua Thompson, who took the boy to Caleb Thompson's house.
Taylor said the boy was placed facedown on a bed and beaten with the tree branch on his back and buttocks. When the boy tried to break free, Caleb Thompson held him down so the beating could continue, Taylor said.
Taylor said the beating lasted 90 minutes, during which the boy was allowed to use the bathroom one time. The boy told his family the Thompsons turned up a radio to drown out his screams.
The family said the Thompsons brought the boy home and suggested he wear long sleeves for a while. The family said one of the brothers told the boy's stepfather, "It's your turn now" and that they suggested he "finish the job."
According to the police affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrants, the stepfather told investigators the Thompsons said they tried to break the child and make him repent from wrongdoing.
"Their idea of discipline was to take him out of school and beat him until he was black and blue," said the boy's uncle, Felipe Garcia.
A photograph provided by Taylor showed deep purple bruises and scabs on the boy's back and buttocks. The police affidavit noted the boy also was bruised on his arms, legs and head.
Attempts to reach the Thompsons on Monday were unsuccessful. Jerald Finney, a lawyer for Joshua Thompson, told the Austin American-Statesman that "facts have been distorted."
"These are two very responsible young men," Finney said. "Anybody can make allegations. That's what the criminal justice system is for -- to sort out truth from fiction."
The boy's mother said she and her family had attended the independent Baptist church for four years and that the sermons never endorsed severe discipline.
"It was a surprise to me; it was shocking," she said. "I never heard nothing like this. I never heard the pastor preach like this. I have no idea why they beat him so badly."
The family intends to file a civil lawsuit against the church.
Pity. "Suicide by cop" might have been swifter and less painful for these two than what they will surely be receiving from Bubba. He and his social circle really, really frown on people who have "anger management" issues involving innocent children.
Where's Judge Roy Bean when you need him? He'd be the perfect judge for these two stains.
Oh yeah Bubba gonna like these boys.
Hmmm ... never thought of using that one. I tried the "I Love You" gambit once, didn't work. I tried cute, defiant, scared-out-of-my-mind, and brave forebearance. I still got blistered (especially for the incident with the pocket knife and the brand-new leather sofa). Mom was VERY single-minded in that regard.
But, I bet you never tried 'I am a victim of urban blight and a great cultural imbalance'?
If so, I don't know if it makes it any worse, but it does make me shudder.
Hello, um, Pastor? There is the matter of a young boy in intensive care. Hello?
If you aren't from Texas, you oughta git here soon's you can. You shore have the temper'ment fur it!
Born 'n raised in Ft. Worth.
THE KIDS SUFFERED RENAL FAILURE. Is that good enough for you?
In the early '60s, in Texas? I'd have gotten an extra swat or two for being a smart-aleck ;)
The oil derrick in everybody's back yard here is a dead giveaway. I wanted to mount a set of bullhorns on the front of my Neon, but the plastic wouldn't hold their weight.
Seriously, the last time I wore a pair of boots was in London in 1978. It may be heresy for a Texan to say this, but the damned things hurt my feet and I'll never wear another pair of roachkillers as long as I live.
Where? Not above
These people specialized in beatings of children where they didn't leave many marks
If true, that says something more like rubber hose, not tree branch. Or buffered by some very, very thick material. Something isn't quite adding up in this story, at least not yet.
THE KIDS SUFFERED RENAL FAILURE
KidS? As in a group? Where's the story about the others? Not saying it can't be true, just that I missed it. Where are the doctors' reports about trauma to the kidneys? Again not saying it can't be true, just that I missed it.
I'm sorry, but this isn't like spilling hot coffee on your own crack. This is ASSAULT AND BATTERY. This kid (singular) might possibly be permanently injured. He didn't do this to himself. Your failure to be impressed by a photograph doesn't alter the fact that he's been in intensive care for several days, and his KIDNEYS DON'T FUNCTION.
I fail to understand what you think you're trying to protect by downplaying those facts. If you want to say "maybe these guys didn't do it," that's fine. Thankfully we have courts of law to determine those things.
But please do NOT insult my intelligence by shrugging off this level of injury to a CHILD.
And to this day, I do not own a pair of boots, because (1) I've never worn any; (2) I'm afraid to pay a whole big bunch of money to find out that I can't stand 'em; and (3) being originally from Alabama, I tend to not wear ANYTHING on my feet as much as possible. It always seemed to me that surrounding my dogs with even MORE leather was DECIDEDLY going in the wrong direction!
The boy suffered kidney failure as a result of the beating and spent the Fourth of July weekend in the intensive care unit of Brackenridge Hospital sedated with morphine,...True, this is a police affadavit not a doctor's report, but then again it doesn't say where it came from.
And I suspect that such an allegation would be easy enough to prove, don't you think?
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