Wichita Falls man sentenced for injury to a child
A Wichita Falls man pleaded guilty to a lesser charge for hitting a 12-year-old boy who refused the man's orders to stab him in the back, court documents show.
John Lee Leatherwood, 53, was sentenced to six months in state jail Thursday in 89th District Court as part of a plea bargain, according to court documents.
He will receive 180 days credit for time served in 2021 in the Wichita County Law Enforcement Center, effectively making his sentence time served.
Eighty-ninth District Judge Charles Barnard also ordered Leatherwood to pay a $100 child abuse prevention fine, according to court records.
Leatherwood was convicted of injury to a child-criminal negligence. The state jail felony is punishable by up to two years in a state jail facility.
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He was indicted May 5, 2021, on a charge of injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury. The third degree felony carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
About 7:08 p.m. Feb. 17, 2021, Wichita Falls police responded to Town and Country Drive to check an occupied vehicle, according to a Wichita Falls police affidavit.
Officers were told Leatherwood assaulted his son and left, and when they found Leatherwood, he admitted he was intoxicated, according to an affidavit.
His son told police he was in bed playing video games when Leatherwood laid down next to him and told the child several times to "stab him in the back," according to an affidavit. The child said his father got upset when he would not stab him.
Leatherwood hit the boy in the face and yelled at the child that he couldn't go outside, according to an affidavit. The boy told police he was confused and didn't know what Leatherwood was talking about.
Leatherwood hit the boy again and left, according to an affidavit. Police saw what appeared to be fresh red marks on the boy's forehead.
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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls man sentenced for injury to a child
