Inset: Courtney Crites (West Virginia Division of Corrections). Background: The area in West Virginia where Courtney Crites allegedly pummeled a child with a wooden paddle that she called "the attitude adjuster" at a home she shares with her boyfriend (Google Maps).
A West Virginia woman is facing child abuse charges for beating a boy with a wooden paddle that she called "the attitude adjuster" and doing other heinous things to him, like kicking the youth "in the privates" and leaving him "outside in the freezing cold," according to police and other children in the home.
Courtney Crites, 32, of Belington, was arrested on Friday after a local child advocacy center conducted an investigation into the alleged abuse after police were notified, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime.
Advocates spoke to five children who were said to be living with Crites at a home she shared with her boyfriend, the complaint says. The interviews were taped and shown to police investigators, who filed three counts of felony child abuse against Crites.
"During the interviews [police] observed the male juvenile to state that Ms. Crites had kicked him, hit him, and screamed at him," the complaint alleges. "[The boy] advised that Ms. Crites kicked him in the privates once, approximately two months ago."
The child said that when he did not put "his clothes away the right way" she would use "the paddle" that she dubbed "the attitude adjuster" to punish him, according to the complaint. On one occasion, Crites "pushed him outside in the freezing cold, eventually letting him back in before striking him with the paddle, breaking it," the complaint says.
"[The boy] described the injuries sustained from being hit as bruises on his shoulder, chest and back, and that the bruises lasted for 'a couple months,'" according to police. "[The boy] continued to advise that when Ms. Crites would get mad she would walk past him and kick him."
The child allegedly told investigators that he was "scared to death" of Crites after she "broke the paddle by hitting him with it." He described the wooden board as being approximately 2 inches by 4 inches, and roughly 2 feet in length.
The relationship between the boy and Crites is unclear. Police say the woman resides with the other minor children and victim at their home in Barbour County.
Crites is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail with her bond set at $100,000. She was due to appear in court Monday for a disposition hearing.
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