Boy: Stepfather 'got angry, he slammed me against a wall'

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Mar. 9—WILKES-BARRE — A fidgety 8-year-old boy did his best to remember how he suffered a bruise below his right eye more than two years ago.

After saying he forgot and did not remember, the boy testified his stepfather, Kenneth Earl Carolus III, grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into a wall.

Carolus, 38, a Luzerne County corrections officer, is facing a non-jury trial before Judge David W. Lupas on misdemeanor charges of simple assault and endangering the welfare of children.

Kingston Township police charged Carolus, of Nanticoke, after the boy was questioned by a forensic interviewer at the Luzerne County Children's Advocacy Center.

Police allege Carolus on Feb. 14, 2020, grabbed the boy and shoved him against a wall inside a Trucksville residence where he lived with the boy's mother.

Police Sgt. John W. Fuches said Carolus was not married to the boy's mother but her sons referred to him as their stepfather.

Lupas found the boy to be competent to testify after Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin and Carolus' attorney, William L. Stephens Jr., questioned the lad about knowing the difference between telling the truth and a lie.

The boy, then 6, said he was waiting on the front porch for the school bus when Carolus called him back inside. When he reentered the house, the boy said "Ken" slammed him against a wall.

At first, the boy said his back hit the wall, but later said he struck his face.

When the boy got onto the school bus, driver David Malesky said he noticed the boy was crying.

McLaughlin played surveillance footage of inside the bus showing the boy crying for the entire drive to Wycallis Elementary School of the Dallas School District.

Once the boy entered a classroom, substitute teacher Michelle Camoni noticed the boy was sitting on the floor and curled up into a ball. Camoni said she noticed the facial bruise when the boy picked up his head.

"He told me his stepfather pushed his face into a wall," Camoni said.

Camoni took the boy to the school nurse and completed a report.

Wycallis Elementary Principal Brian Bradshaw contacted authorities as required by state law.

Fuches said the forensic interview was recorded, which McLaughlin played for Lupas.

During the interview, the boy tells the forensic interviewer Carolus called him back inside the house, grabbed him by the neck and "slammed me against a wall."

McLaughlin introduced many pictures showing the boy's facial injury to Lupas.

Lupas ended Tuesday's proceeding with Fuches remaining on the witness stand.

Testimony continues Wednesday morning.