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ELKINS - A Randolph County woman is behind bars after allegedly striking and bruising a 7-year-old with a belt, police said.
MaCayla Ashton Johnson, 24, has been charged with child abuse resulting in injury, a misdemeanor. She is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, on a $2,000 bond, set by Magistrate Mike Dyer.
According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Sgt. D.D. Pennington of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, on Sept. 15, Pennington was working his regular shift as a Prevention Resource Officer when he received a call from a Randolph County Schools employee, saying that a student’s relative had called her, saying "there was an incident the evening before that ‘went too far’ and he wanted to let her know before the teachers noticed."
The male caller reportedly told the employee that a 7-year-old child "was not listening, and that when (the child) was being punished ... stated that ‘it didn’t hurt,’" the complaint states. The caller said that Johnson "commanded that (the child) should feel pain and grabbed a belt."
The schools employee met with the student and confirmed that the child had bruising on the arms, hand and lower back, according to the complaint. The employee then made a referral to Child Protective Services. Pennington asked the employee to make sure she documented the injuries by photograph and forward those to him.
Pennington then conducted an interview with Johnson, along with Deputy R.C. Hebb, the complaint states. Pennington asked how she normally disciplined a child, and she replied "by ‘open palm’ on the butt." She said that, twice before this incident, she had used a belt for disciplining, adding she "would only use about 4 to 5 inches of the tip of the belt opposite the buckle end."
Pennington then asked Johnson "what changed this time," according to the complaint. She allegedly replied that she had been going through a lot, losing a family member. She said that she took the child into the bathroom to provide discipline, "and used the 4 to 5 inches on the tip of the belt" twice. She said the child was moving back and forth, between the toilet and the bathtub.
Johnson said she told the child, "Stop, if punishment don’t hurt, why are you fighting it?" according to the complaint. She said she then "wrapped the belt around her hands a few times and then doubled up the end of the belt," which she demonstrated for the officers with a belt.
Pennington asked how the child suffered bruising to the arms, hand and lower back, the complaint states. Johnson allegedly replied that the child ‘s hands and arms were covering the child’s behind.
Pennington then asked Johnson if, at any time during the incident, she felt she was going too far, and Johnson replied, "Yes," according to the complaint.