BULLHEAD CITY – A Bullhead City man who begged for probation will instead go to prison for using zip ties to secure his nine-year-old son for at least two evenings last summer. Vincent Jean-Luis, 40, appeared for sentencing Nov. 15 after pleading guilty to child abuse in October.
Jean-Luis said he was awarded custody of the boy because he and his mother had been abused by her boyfriend. He said he quickly learned the boy’s troubled behavior included poking neighborhood pets with sticks and bullying others at school.
Worst yet, Jean-Luis said, was the boy’s abuse of his three-year-old stepbrother. He told the Court he was horrified to witness the older boy applying all his weight on his brother while covering his nose and mouth while suffocating him.
Jean-Louis said he planned to get mental health counseling for the boy, but resorted to using zip ties as a temporary measure during two nights in July to ensure protection for his brother when everyone was sleeping.
“I completely understand that was a mistake,” he said, expressing remorse and apologizing. “I wish I never did this but my son had some sociopathic tendencies.”
Deputy Mohave County Attorney Amanda Claerhout told Judge Doug Camacho that inflicted abuse extended beyond zip ties. She said food deprivation and requiring him to perform exercise squats were other forms of punishment suffered by the victim.
Claerhout said the boy wriggled free of his zip tie confinement and ran to a convenience market where he was found crying and asking for ice cream because he was hungry. She said he had minor ligature marks from the restraints.
Claerhout said the victim was very candid during an office interview.
“He was very open that his dad is scary, is not nice to him and is mean to him,” she said. “He does not want to go home.”
Jean-Luis begged for probation so he could care for the younger boy.
“I’m not a druggie. I’m not an alcoholic. I’m not a trouble maker,” Jean-Louis said. “Please let me go home to my family for the holidays your Honor.”
Judge Camacho sided with Claerhout and her request for prison time. He said the probation department regarded Jean-Louis as a risk to reoffend and a poor candidate for probation.
“I just don’t feel that probation is appropriate for that type of behavior,” he said. Judge Camacho imposed a prison term of 2.25 years.
Dave Hawkins
