A Bowling Green man has pleaded guilty to assaulting an 8-year-old boy.
Jeremy Mull, 36, was transported from the jail Friday to the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dexter Phillips said a plea agreement had been reached. It had Mull pleading guilty to one count domestic violence, a third-degree felony, and two counts endangering children, one a second-degree felony and one a third-degree felony. The charges stem from two separate cases.
Phillips recommended any sentence for the domestic violence charge run concurrent to the other two charges.
The victim’s family was in the courtroom and agreed with the plea offer, he added.
Phillips said that from June 21-Aug. 7, 2021, Mull lived with a woman and her child at a home on Buttonwood Avenue.
On June 30, 2021, the woman reported that she had been assaulted by Mull. She told police he struck her in the face when she woke him up to go to work, Phillips said.
The defendant had three prior domestic violence convictions, he said.
On Aug. 3, 2021, Mull, the woman and the 8-year-old child were still living together when he struck the boy with a closed fist to the head, neck, chest, arms and legs.
“(The child) suffered serious physical harm,” Phillips said. “His eyes were black and blue and completely swollen shut. … (He) had difficulty breathing from his nose due to the trauma to his face.”
The child had additional bruises and cuts to his face in addition to human bite marks on his arms and shoulders, Phillips said.
These injuries caused temporary and serious disfigurement and incapacity, he said.
For four days after the assault, Mull did not seek medical care for the boy, which caused the threat of sepsis due to the open wounds, nor did he supply a change to his bloody clothes, Phillips said.
On Aug. 7, the woman’s mother walked into the police department to report concern over the welfare of her grandson.
While she was talking to officers, her daughter and grandson walked into the police department.
The boy was rushed to Toledo Hospital for emergency medical treatment, Phillips said.
When asked by the Kuhlman if this is what happened, Mull conferred with his attorney.
Defense attorney Kati Tharp then asked to approach the bench.
After a five-minute sidebar – for which neither side disclosed what was discussed – the proceedings continued.
Kuhlman said he could impose a minimum sentence of eight years with the maximum at 18 years due to the felony charges falling within Reagan Tokes Act qualifications.
Sentencing was set for Dec. 16, at which time a felonious assault charge will be dismissed.
