Man Hits 7-Year-Old Boy in Face With Belt Before School, Mom Lied About Story: Police

CALEDONIA, WI — Police are looking for a man accused of striking a 7-year-old boy three times in the face with a belt because he reportedly wasn't getting ready for school.

According to his criminal complaint, Robert Gaston struck the boy three times in the face before school on April 25.

When the boy arrived at North Park Elementary School on the morning of April 25, a teacher reported to police that one of her students had been struck in the face, the complaint stated.

Officers spoke with the child after arriving at the school and observed a large, upside-down "U" shape welt along the left side of the child's face, the complaint stated.

According to the complaint, the top end of the welt was near the left eye and was about an inch wide and several inches long. Officers also observed that the welt was noticable and raised.

The complaint states that on the morning of April 25, the child was laying in bed on his back when Gaston told him to get up for school. The child stated he did not listen, and Gaston struck him three times in the face and back with the belt.

According to the complaint, mother Ariel Heath was in the room at the time of the striking, and told officers that nothing happened before school and denied anything happened.

The complaint stated that when officers showed the mother the photos of the welt on her son, she reportedly changed her story, and claimed she was not in the room when he was struck. She asserted that her son was spanked for not getting up for school and that he must have run from Gaston and "accidentally was struck in the face."

Heath was taken into custody and faces one charge of Failure to act to prevent bodily harm to a child.

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