With the terrible situation placed upon an infant boy yesterday in Lawrenceville (see link), that brought up a lot of questions about the status of another Lawrence-area baby and how his parents are faring in the court system.
Joseph Armes
Ashley Brotherton (Armes)
The parents of an infant who suffered a fractured skull and broken ribs in late January, Joseph Armes and Ashely Brotherton (some accounts have her as “Armes” instead of Brotherton, as she is ostensibly Joseph Armes’ wife), have each been charged with Aggravated Battery of a Child creating permanent disability. The incident occurred in Sumner and was handled by the very capable Travis Trainer, with the assistance of Illinois State Police; Trainer’s work was along the lines of what Lawrenceville Police Chief Jim White conducted yesterday in the Armour case: Quick, effective, and with the best interests of the child in mind.
James Choate III
So careful was Trainer’s work in the Armes case that he also was able to discover that another child in the Armes home was allegedly being abused—this one, sexually—by a housemate, James Choate III.
All three are currently being held in the Lawrence County Jail under hefty bonds, and their cases are progressing through court, albeit slowly. Thus far, there has been a preliminary hearing set for all three on February 26, and now, the next setting is March 26 for the Armes, and March 28 for Choate. While we’re waiting to see if they will cost the county jury trials or if they’re going to take a plea each and get it over with, the article outlining what happened appears on page 3 of this month’s (February-March 2014) edition of Disclosure, which you can read in its entirety here at the e-Edition if you have an online membership, “Couple jailed after abuse of infant, roommate jailed after sex allegations“:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LAWRENCE CO.—A young couple, said to originally be from Franklin County but most recently living in Sumner, remain in Lawrence County’s jail pending preliminary hearings in their cases which are related to the serious battery of their three-month-old son.
Joseph C. Armes, 22, and his girlfriend (some accounts have her listed as a spouse) Ashley D. Brotherton, also 22, were arrested in early February and each charged with one count of Aggravated Battery against their baby, identified only by the initials JCA, on January 30.
The case came to light when JCA was taken, by his parents, to the emergency room of Lawrence Memorial Hospital on that Thursday, unresponsive.
When it was determined that the baby had a fractured skull, he was rushed to Riley Children’s Hospital, and the investigation into his parents was begun.
Authorities learned that the baby had been the victim of alleged significant abuse, and Armes was subsequently charged with Aggravated Battery causing Great Bodily Damage to a Child under the age of 13, in that on Jan. 30, Armes is said to have shaken the baby, and threw him on a bed, causing the baby to bounce off and strike a dresser and a television, thus causing the fractured skull, as well as broken ribs.
But the story didn’t stop there.
During the course of this investigation into the abuse of the baby, Sumner police and Illinois State Police investigators literally stumbled upon information that there were allegations of abuse against….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To read the rest of the very detailed article, click the link here to get started on your e-Edition subscription, or be sure and pick up your copy of this month’s issue on stands RIGHT NOW and only for a few more days; click this link to see vendors in your area, including Lawrence and Franklin counties.