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0 A serial-dater mother moved her abusive airman boyfriend in after just two months, then joined in as he almost tortured her seven-year-old son to death – and defended him to investigators, prosecutors have alleged.
Jared Reeves, 32, and Marie Collins, 29, have been arrested on suspicion of child assault, criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment charges, Airway Heights police said.
Collins told police she and Reeves have been dating since April and that she and her son – who a doctor claimed had also been traumatized throughout her previous relationships – moved in with Reeves in June, according to court documents.
Child Protective Services became involved after the child’s Sunset Elementary School counselor alerted the authorities when the child returned from the winter break with unexplained injuries to his face and a significant amount of weight loss.
The counselor reported the child was eating food and drinking milk from the garbage in the school, police said.
Marie Collins, 29, (pictured) moved her allegedly abusive airman boyfriend in after just two months, then joined in as he almost tortured her seven-year-old son to death
Police said Jared Reeves, 32, (pictured) told them he beat the little boy with a ‘sex paddle’ and belt
Reeves and Collins appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on Thursday and are scheduled for arraignments on March 19
The boy told a CPS caseworker that Reeves had attempted to kill him and that he would choke him to the point he couldn’t breathe, according to court documents.
A child abuse investigation was launched against the couple in January after the CPS case worker brought the boy to Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital because of bruising all over his body and extreme weight loss.
The boy has been ‘severely physically abused’ and could be the victim ‘possible torture,’ a doctor wrote after examining the child.
‘He is in imminent danger if he returns to his current living situation, he cannot sustain further injury without significant harm,’ the doctor wrote.
‘He needs normal caloric intake for a sustained period of time to ensure he develops as normally as possible.’
The seven-year-old had experienced childhood trauma and repeated violent trauma throughout the course of his life, the physician said.
Child Protective Services became involved after the child’s Sunset Elementary School (pictured) counselor alerted the authorities when the child returned from the winter break with unexplained injuries to his face and a significant amount of weight loss
The pair are charged with suspicion of child assault, criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment charges
The boy’s ‘mental stability and cognitive ability’ are significant concerns, the doctor wrote.
Both Reeves and Collins admitted to beating the child, police said.
Collins told police she spanked her son, hit him with a metal spoon and forgot to feed her son for a two-week period.
Collins also told investigators she and Reeves forced the boy to strip naked and sleep in the bathtub without blankets or pillows over three weekends from December to January as punishment for wetting the bed.
The mother admitted to police to filming incidents of physical abuse perpetrated by herself and Reeves on her phone.
Authorities also said Reeves also them that he had beaten the little boy with a ‘sex paddle’ and belt which had caused bruising to the boy’s genital area and buttocks.
He also confessed to choking the boy and picking him up by his neck to the point his feet came off the ground, according to documents.
Collins or Reeves would allegedly force the child to hold his hands above his head or out in front of himself for one to four hours at a time.
If he dropped his arms, he would have to start over or he would be hit with a belt, metal spoon, hands or hairbrush.
The boy could be heard crying and screaming, ‘My back hurts,’ on an audio file on Reeves’ phone, court documents say.
Reeves and Collins appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on Thursday and are scheduled for arraignments on March 19.
The investigation is still ongoing.
