TISHOMINGO, Oklahoma. (KXII) - A Johnston county couple has been arrested after a teacher noticed a Mannsville elementary student was showing signs of child abuse.
Court documents state the 6-year-old child had bruises on his bottom, legs, chest, tummy, arms, hands and a black eye.
Johnston County Sheriff Gary Dodd said after his office began investigating, they asked Sara’s Project to conduct a forensic interview.
“After the forensic interview was completed with the children, one of them was actually medically examined,” Dodd said. “The doctor there determined that the injuries he had sustained were non-accidental.”
Dodd said that based on the evidence found during the examination and forensic interview, they arrested the child’s mother, 26-year-old Destiny Wright, for failing to protect her son. Wright’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Bobby Wayne Stuckel was arrested for child abuse.
“The mother is still under investigation,” Dodd said. “We don’t know at this point if she was actually a physical abuser, but she did partake in the abuse by letting it happen.”
Dodd said they’re grateful that a teacher noticed and called it in.
Dodd said the children in the home are now safe.
Superintendent Brandi Price said every staff member at Mannsville school is trained to recognize signs of abuse.
“Teachers always have open doors as well as your superintendents,” Price said. “Anybody at the school will listen to you any time you have a need or concern or feel like there’s something going wrong.”
Price also released a statement about what happened:
Our priority at Mannsville Public Schools is always the safety and well-being of our students. And Oklahoma law states that every person, private citizen or professional who has reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 is being abused or neglected, must report it to the Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services. As educators, it’s always a somber occasion when we have to make that report. But every school teacher and person on staff at Mannsville schools has received training on what the signs of potential abuse are and how to make that report. Our number one goal is to make sure our students have the brightest future possible, and sadly sometimes that means intervening on their behalf to make a report to DHS.
“Reach out to a deputy, a police officer, a teacher, a counselor, another adult because this can’t be tolerated,” Dodd said. “I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, we’re not gonna let this happen here.”
Steckel and Wright are being held at the Johnston County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
