A Mt. Juliet man has been charged with child abuse and neglect after authorities say home surveillance video shows the suspect kicking and hitting his six-year-old child.
The six-year-old’s mother, Nia Snow, tells FOX 17 News that this isn’t the first time the boy, Damien, has been abused.
Snow says when he was two months old, he was also abused by an ex-boyfriend. That incident resulted in 18 fractured bones, and she said that man is still behind bars.
Now, Damien’s father, Randy Dickens, has been charged with child abuse and neglect for an incident involving the six-year-old.
“It’s the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Snow said.
Snow said Dickens started spanking Damien for bad behavior at school when the situation escalated.
"All of a sudden, his whole body just started going into it,” Snow said. “He was drooling out of his mouth, he was putting so much effort into it, that's how bad it was."
The child's mom told officers she had video evidence taken from the front porch showing her ex-husband striking the little boy with an open hand multiple times and kicking him in the abdomen.
Snow said she secretly called police, and persuaded Dickens to leave the house to buy groceries so she could show deputies the video proof before Dickens could destroy it.
"The whole time it was happening, he was screaming my name,” Snow said.
She said she didn’t want to confront Dickens, because she says he legally carries a handgun.
"I tried to do things the right way,” Snow said. “I did what the police told me to do, and I didn't want nobody getting shot, and I knew that's what would've happened, so I tried to be smart."