A Jefferson City man was charged over the weekend with four felony counts of child abuse, after he allegedly beat four children.
Albert D. Earwin, 40, was charged Saturday with four counts of abuse of a child - all class D felonies. Earwin was denied bond.
The Jefferson City Police Department responded to a call at about 4:30 p.m. Friday that a man was beating multiple children in the 200 block of North Ventura Avenue.
Once officers arrived, they made contact with a witness who said "multiple children had run to her residence with injuries consistent with being assaulted," according to a probable cause statement from JCPD.
One victim, Earwin's son, had multiple injuries and told officers Earwin had been beating the children "because his marijuana was missing, and he was blaming the children for taking it."
He said Earwin had hit him multiple times and pushed him down a wooded hill.
Officers knocked on the door and rang the doorbell, eventually forcing their way in and taking Earwin into custody.
The other victims Earwin allegedly assaulted were another son, his nephew and a child who was a family friend, all of whom are younger than 18.