Community Corner
Update: Man Gets 5 Years for Austell Potty Training Beating
Evidence showed he repeatedly whipped the toddler on his genitals, causing bleeding and leaving welt marks.
The 31-year-old Thomasville man who was convicted Wednesday of whipping a 22-month-old boy because he wouldn't use the toilet will spend five years in prison.
A Cobb County jury found Andrew Charles Pride guilty of one count of cruelty to children in the first degree, Kim Isaza, the spokeswoman for Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds, said in a statement.
Evidence showed Pride repeatedly whipped the toddler on his genitals, causing bleeding and leaving welt marks, on Aug. 17, 2012, at an Austell residence.
"This wasn’t an accident," Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring said. "This was malicious. And it was all because of potty training. Mr. Pride struck a 22-month-old baby in the groin multiple times because he wouldn’t pee in the potty. This man’s actions are the definition of malice."
The jury deadlocked on a second count of the same charge. Pride allegedly encouraged an older child to say that the child had inflicted the beating on the toddler. The condition of the child was not immediately available.
Upon his release, Pride must serve 15 years on probation and have no unsupervised contact with minors, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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