Corbin man arrested for allegedly assaulting his pregnant wife

A Corbin man is being held in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond after being arrested late Saturday evening for allegedly punching his pregnant wife in the face and the abdomen.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Jackson charged Tommy L. Justice Jr., 27, of 1580 Frankfort School Road, with second-degree assault/domestic violence about 10:53 p.m. Saturday.

“This is one of the more serious domestic assaults we have seen here in a while here,” Jackson said. “This is a pretty serious assault. It isn’t every day you see a spouse beat up so badly that her eye is swelled shut, her lips are busted and her teeth are knocked loose.”

Whitley District Judge Fred White entered a not guilty plea on Justice’s behalf during his arraignment Monday afternoon, scheduled a Feb. 14 preliminary hearing in his case, and set bond at $25,000 cash.

Monday afternoon, Justice was charged with violating a Kentucky Emergency Protective Order for allegedly trying to contact the victim by phone from his jail cell, and his bond was increased to $50,000 cash at that point, Jackson said.

He said that police began investigating the case after getting a call about a possible domestic dispute on Frankfort School Road.

“The mother of the victim originally called 911, and said that her daughter had been assaulted pretty badly by her husband,” Jackson said. “Prior to officers arriving at the scene, it was told by the mother-in-law that the perpetrator and the victim both were leaving the scene with the children. The mother hadn’t ruled out the victim being forced to leave by the perpetrator.”

Jackson said that police suspected this was a serious assault, and asked surrounding agencies to be on the lookout  for the couple so they could determine if the woman was in danger.

Jackson said that within the next couple of hours, the victim called 911 dispatchers telling them that nothing had happened at all.

“We knew there was in fact an altercation that had occurred. It was kind of a strange call,” Jackson noted.

911 dispatchers transferred the victim’s call to Jackson.

“Upon interviewing and asking the victim some questions, some things just didn’t quite add up,” he said. “I still suspected things were not necessary right.

“The victim would just answer yes or no to my questions. You could hear someone whispering in the background.”

The victim also agreed to meet an officer at a location, but didn’t show up, Jackson said.

A short time later, the victim’s mother called reporting that she had just gotten a call from the victim, who was at the Super 8 Motel in Williamsburg.

Jackson, Kentucky State Police Trooper Les Moses, Williamsburg Police Officer Brandon White and K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt all responded to the motel.

“When we got there, we were kind of amazed by what we saw,” Jackson said. “The female victim, who stated she was eight weeks pregnant, was actually there at the motel room with her husband, the offender. He pretty much was laid back acting like nothing was wrong. She was beaten pretty badly.”

The victim had one eye swollen shut, her top and bottom lip were busted, she had a tooth knocked loose, and she had a pretty severe bruise on her abdomen, Jackson said.

The victim told police that she was being coached on what to say when she was on the phone with Jackson, and that she left the residence with her husband because the children were with him.

“The victim stated she had actually been punched repeatedly in the face. Her face actually hit up against the window in the car. She was hit with the offender’s fist repeatedly in the abdomen as well,” Jackson said.

The assault didn’t even stem from an argument, and Justice gave the victim no warning, Jackson said.

“They were in a conversation, and she wasn’t happy with something he said,” Jackson noted. “It wasn’t even an argument. Something she said to him, he snapped. He didn’t give any warning before he started assaulting her.”

When the assault in the vehicle took place, the couple’s six-year-old child was inside the vehicle and gave police several statements.

“He was there at the scene, and said, ‘Yeah. My daddy kept punching her in the face.’ Of course it was upsetting to the child,” Jackson said.

The couple’s two young children were still with them at the motel when police arrived, and were released to the custody of their grandmother.

Justice was taken into police custody without incident.

“He was cooperative with us. He did state that he did beat her and hit her repeatedly in the face and the stomach. He didn’t deny any of it. He was cooperative,” Jackson said. “He said he thought he had some anger issues.”

The victim initially refused treatment by Whitley County EMS, but her mother took her to Baptist Regional Medical Center where she was examined and released.

Jackson said that he doesn’t know the condition of the fetus, which wasn’t checked in the hospital emergency room.

“They just checked other injuries and told her to follow up with the O.B. doctor today,” Jackson said Monday afternoon.

Jackson said that the couple had been together for about six years, and there had been a history of some violence.

He said the victim had taken out an Emergency Protective Order (E.P.O.) against Justice that hadn’t been served at the time of the assault.

“It was from a prior domestic issue that wasn’t nearly as serious,” Jackson said.

Moses served Justice with the E.P.O. after he was jailed, which prohibited him from having any contact with the victim, Jackson said.

He said that Justice allegedly tried to call his wife at her mother’s home once Monday from the jail, which is a violation of the E.P.O.

“A domestic violence forthwith order of arrest was then sworn out by the victim, and Mr. Justice was then charged with violation of a Kentucky E.P.O.” Jackson said.

His bond was modified at that point from $25,000 cash to $50,000 cash.

Jackson said that the charge could potentially be upgraded depending on what happens to the victim’s fetus.

“If something was to happen and the fetus is terminated because of these injuries, then I would say the charge would take a great change also,” Jackson said.

“Depending on the condition of the female and the fetus, the case will probably be presented to the next Whitley County Grand Jury next month.”

Deputy Ken Shepard assisted with the investigation.