SALYERSVILLE, Ky. — A Magoffin County man for allegedly abusing his girlfriend’s son.
Staff at North Magoffin Elementary contacted Kentucky State Police last Thursday to report suspicions that a 5-year-old student had been abused. School staff told police that the boy had just returned to school after missing more than a week.
They said during recess at 9:30 that morning, he had fallen asleep on a tricycle, and that is when teachers noticed extensive bruising on his right arm, back, neck, legs and rear. When asked what had happened, the boy said he couldn’t tell or he would get in trouble, but he later said that is mom’s boyfriend, later identified as Lonnie Lemaster, 28, of Gunlock, is mean to him.
The child’s mother told police she wasn’t aware of the bruising, but she had been working overnight and Lemaster and been watching the boy. During that interview, the police report says the boy told her Lemaster had grabbed him and threw him on the floor, then hit him with a towel and began hurting him.
Lemaster told police he didn’t know how the child had received the bruises, but the boy was always saying that he was hurting him.
Lemaster was arrested and charged with first-degree child abuse, a felony punishable by 10-to-20 years in prison.
