2 arrested after police say they abused, forced 5-year-old to eat his own feces

MONESSEN, Pa. — Monessen police have arrested a man and his girlfriend, who they say severely abused the man’s five-year-old son and forced him to eat his own feces.

The alleged abuse came to light after the boy’s grandfather noticed bruising while the boy was in his custody.

“I had no idea they even had kids in that house,” said Katherine Secleter, who lives a few houses away. “This whole time, I had no idea.”

She and other neighbors who live on Delaware Street in Monessen were stunned Monday when police showed up in their neighborhood and arrested two of their neighbors, Charles Smitley IV, and his girlfriend, Colleen Cassidy.

“When you heard that news, what was your reaction?” Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek asked Secleter.

“Disgust that somebody would do that to their own kid,” she said.

According to court documents, Charles Smitley IV had custody of his grandson after the boy’s father, Smitley V, told the courts he no longer wanted to care for him.

In April, the boy’s grandfather noticed the boy’s clothes were dirty and he had a foul odor as if he hadn’t been bathed in some time.

The grandfather took the boy to a nearby McDonald’s and said the boy was not interested in playing, just eating, as if he had not eaten recently. He told police the boy also complained that his stomach hurt and appeared to be walking in pain.

He took the boy to the bathroom and noticed bruising on his legs and buttocks, and took him to the hospital.

The hospital said the boy was emaciated.

While doing an interview with the boy, investigators said they learned his father, and his father’s girlfriend, Cassidy, both used a white paddle with a handle to spank him more than once everyday, and his father made him eat his own feces more than once.

“Yeah, it’s disgusting they would ever do that to anyone, let alone a child,” Secleter said. “That’s a five-year-old! Why would you do that?!”

Cassidy’s 11-year-old son also lived in the home. Police said that boy was not abused.

That boy told investigators the five-year-old often was forced to sleep in the basement bathroom on the floor with no blankets or padding. Police said he told them the boy was locked in rooms “by having a chair put in front of the door.”

“I hope these kids can grow up and live a happy, healthy life away from them,” Secleter said. “If you see something, say something.”

Cassidy and Smitley V are both being held in the Westmoreland County Prison. They’re due in court later this month.

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