KINGSTON TWP. — Charges against a Franklin Township man accused of abusing his son were held over to Luzerne County Court.
District Judge James Tupper on Thursday forwarded charges of simple assault and endangering the welfare of children by a parent that state police filed against John N. Deyo in August.
Police allege the 5-year-old boy told his mother another child punched him in the belly and threw him to the floor while he spent weekend time with his father, who is divorced from the child’s mother.
When the mother asked the boy where his father was when the boy beat him up, her son began crying and said, “Mommy, daddy beat me up, too, this weekend. He punched me in the face, then kneed me in the head. He was mad at me for no reason, Mommy, and was just hitting me. I was crying very hard and I don’t know why Daddy hates me,” the mother allegedly told police.
The mother told police that when she called Deyo, he replied he was “just playing” with his son and that their son needs to “toughen up,” police said.
Deyo’s formal arraignment, when he must enter a plea of guilty or not guilty to the charges, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 10 in county court.