Fort Pierce sex offender, girlfriend accused of beating girl
May 21st, 2009 by TCPalm.comFORT PIERCE — A registered sex offender and his girlfriend were arrested Tuesday following allegations that they beat an 11-year-old girl and her siblings, according to records released Wednesday.
The 11-year-old girl told sheriff’s investigators John Louis Cooper, 30, burned her with a cigarette lighter. She said she feared being raped by Cooper because he “raped a 13-year-old girl before,” records show.
Cooper was convicted in 2002 of lewd act on a minor less than 16 and is a registered sex offender because of it, records show.
The girl said Cooper and his 32-year-old girlfriend, Kathy Ann Carson, push them around and punch her and her 9-year-old brother “all the time,” according to the report.
The brother had an injury on his finger he said was caused by Cooper purposely burning him with a lighter, records show.
The elder girl said Cooper punches her in the chest when she misbehaves, the records show. The boy said he has difficulty with bed-wetting and Cooper punches him in the chest because of it. The boy also was found to have a “fungal scalp infection” that had been present for months.
Cooper faces two counts of child abuse, and Carson was arrested on a single child abuse charge. Carson’s charge stems from alleged abuse on a 4-year-old girl. A doctor examined the 4-year-old girl and the two older children and founds signs of abuse or neglect.
Cooper and his girlfriend live in the 5100 block of La Salle Street.
By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com
Tags: arrest, beat, beating, boy, child, children, girl, girlfriend, offender, rape, sex, sheriff
Subscribe to TCoastTalk's RSS Feed
Browse the photo galleries here
May 25th, 2009 at 11:34 am
How do these 2 people have such close contact with these children that they are abusing them? Who do these children belong to? Are the sex offender and his girlfriend neighbors? Or, is the girlfriend the parent of these children allowing a sex offender to reside with her and her children? She needs to be arrested if she is the parent just because of her actions. I am appalled that a mother would allow a sex offender to live with her.