Mom jailed for failing to protect young son

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Kendra Johnson

February 21, 2013

Mom jailed for failing to protect young son

Kendra Johnson charged with complicity to abuse

by Heather Tomlinson Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Thu Feb 21, 2013, 12:20 AM EST

Somerset —

A Pulaski County wo-man has been arrested for complicity criminal abuse in connection with a Nov-ember incident in which her boyfriend allegedly physically abused her young son.

Kendra Johnson, 24, of Hickory Nut Road, Nancy, who was arrested on Tuesday, had been wanted by authorities after a Pulaski County grand jury earlier this month handed down one charge of first-degree complicity to criminal abuse.

Johnson’s boyfriend, Lemuel Burton IV, also of Hickory Nut Ridge Road, Nancy, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree criminal ab-use.

Both Johnson and Burton were initially arrested in November after family members reported to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department that Burton had allegedly assaulted Johnson’s four-year-old son on Nov. 18 at a home on Hickory Nut Ridge Road. Detectives with the sheriff’s department began searching for Burton, the child and Johnson after family members showed investigators cell phone pictures detailing the young boy’s injuries.

Those pictures that allegedly shown “bruising and redness on the child’s head, face and neck,” according to Lt. Det. Brett Whitaker, with the sheriff’s department.

Burton and Johnson turned themselves into the sheriff’s department the same day investigators reached out to the public for information.

Burton was initially charged with criminal abuse, and Johnson was arrested later after authorities “learned that she allowed the abuse to occur and did not report the abuse or seek medical attention or safe haven for the child,” according Whitaker, who is investigating the case.

“Interviews with both Burton and (Kendra) Johnson as well as with the child uncovered evidence that Burton had punched the child in the head and face with his fists causing the child’s injuries,” Whitaker said through a press release.

The child was taken into protective custody by the Department of Community Based Services, and he was examined and treated for his injuries at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital.

Johnson was lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond, and Burton remains there on a $50,000 bond as well.

Both defendants are expected to appear in court today.

An indictment is an accusation only. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they’re proven guilty in court by a jury.

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