SUNRISE, Fla. – A man from Sunrise is being held in jail on $1,000 bond after he allegedly beat his cousin's son with a belt buckle, leaving a large bruise on the victim's forearm, as well as cuts and scratches.
According to police, Alinson Dumorne, 28, told the victim, whose age was not released, to get on his knees and hold out his arms. He then allegedly struck the child on his arms with the belt buckle.
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Dumorne admitted to detectives that he ordered the child to his knees and hit him with a belt on his hands and butt. He said he did so because he believed the child stole his Galaxy smartphone.
Dumorne denied hitting the child on the arms and said the bruise came from the child roughhousing with other kids in the neighborhood. He also claims he hit the child with the leather part of the belt and not the buckle.
The victim told detectives that his mother, Paulette St. Preux, witnessed the abuse, but did not intervene because she was scared of being kicked out of the home where nine other people live.
St. Preux said she did not want Dumorne to go to jail, but officers arrested him anyway.
Dumorne is charged with one count of child abuse without great bodily harm.
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