Inset: Cody W. Ainsworth (McLennan County Jail). Background: The area in Texas where Ainsworth allegedly abused his grandkids (Google Maps).
In a distressing case emerging from Texas, a 52-year-old man faces serious allegations of child abuse involving his young grandchildren. Accusations against Cody Wayne Ainsworth include whipping the children, slamming their hands onto tables, and physically tackling them.
Authorities apprehended Ainsworth last week, charging him with three counts of injuring a child. The investigation commenced after the Bruceville-Eddy Police Department responded to an emergency call about possible child abuse at a home on First Street in Waco, a location approximately 100 miles south of Dallas. The incident occurred on Wednesday, November 19, as reported by CBS affiliate KWTX.
Upon arrival, officers engaged with a woman identified as Ainsworth’s stepdaughter, who is also the children’s mother. She recounted a heated argument with Ainsworth regarding his harsh treatment of the youngsters.
One particularly alarming account involved her 7-year-old son and Ainsworth. According to the mother, her son was in the bath and using Ainsworth’s body wash to create bubbles, which allegedly provoked Ainsworth’s ire. In retaliation, he reportedly made the child place his hand on the kitchen table and then repeatedly slammed it down using his own hand. This method of punishment, as described in a probable cause affidavit, was said to be a common practice for Ainsworth.
The details of this case highlight a deeply troubling situation, prompting legal action to ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved.
The mother claimed the hand-beating was a typical punishment administered by Ainsworth.
The affidavit also included allegations from the mother claiming that Ainsworth regularly used profanity and other “adult language” when addressing the children, particularly threatening them with physical violence, Waco Fox affiliate KWKT reported.
Ainsworth’s wife, the children’s grandmother, then provided investigators with a series of recordings in which Ainsworth allegedly threatened the boys. In one of the recordings, the grandmother can be heard scolding her husband for his treatment of the grandkids.
“I’m tired of you treating them like they are f — ing dogs,” she said in the recording, per KWTX. “You talk to them like they are grown a — people, instead of like children. Do you know that is child abuse?”
The recordings also included Ainsworth saying the following:
As the investigation continued, a school nurse told police that she spoke to one of the little boys, who claimed that he hurt his back when “Grandpa Cody” tackled him.
Additionally, a teacher for one of the kids had kept track of his “multiple physical discomforts,” documenting the injuries “weekly,” which included injuries to his “stomach, feet, cheek, chin, and elbows,” among other things.
During forensic interviews with the victims, the 4-year-old boy reportedly told authorities he was scared of Ainsworth, who he said had “used a belt to give him a whooping on his stomach.”
Ainsworth was being held in the McLennan County Jail on $150,000 bond. Records show he bonded out at some point after his arrest. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court.
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