Child abuse suspect scheduled to be arraigned Monday in court

A Corbin man charged with child abuse after school officials discovered bruising on a 4-year-old’s leg and buttocks, is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday.

Jeremy Adam Smith, 38, who is facing one count of third-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under, is on the docket to be arraigned at 1 p.m. in Whitley District Court in Williamsburg.

The charge is a class A misdemeanor under Kentucky law, carrying a potential sentence of up to one year in jail.

Smith was arrested March 16 following an investigation by Kentucky State Police and a social worker who had been called to Oak Grove Elementary School.

According to the arrest citation, authorities were contacted after school officials discovered bruising on the child’s left leg and both buttocks, resulting in the child having difficulty sitting.

When asked about the bruises, Senior Trooper Craig Sutton stated in the arrest citation, the child told him that her father had whipped her with a belt.

Sutton stated in the arrest citation, that Smith cooperated with the investigation, telling him that he had whipped the child approximately two days prior, but did not believe he had whipped the child hard enough to leave bruises.

“She was missing words and he whipped her when she missed a word,” Sutton stated in the arrest citation as to the reason Smith gave for the whipping.

According to one parent of a preschool child, the words to which Smith referred are 34 words the students attempt to learn to recognize when each is held up on a flashcard.

The students do not have to spell the word, but to recognize it when they see it.