Shawn Michael Fried, 36, of Herculaneum has been sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting a young boy. Fried pleaded guilty to hitting the boy, who was younger than 9, and forcing him to clean a toilet with his tongue, according to court records.
The abuse occurred in July 2019 at a Jefferson County home, where Fried grabbed the boy, dragged him into a bedroom and hit him with an open hand numerous times while calling him fat and other derogatory terms. The boy also said Fried dragged him into a bathroom, put his head in a toilet and flushed it and then made the boy lick the toilet, which had feces in it, the report said
The victim’s mother said she tried to intervene, but Fried pushed her away. Eventually, she got her son away from Fried, who threatened to hurt her and her family if she told anyone about the incident, according to the report.
After the abuse, the mother took pictures of her child, who had bruises on his head, ears, arms, back and stomach, the probable-cause statement said.
Fried pleaded guilty on May 20 to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of first-degree harassment, all felonies. On Aug. 3, Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph A. Rathert sentenced Fried to five years for each of the endangerment charges and four years for harassment, but the sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time, the report said.
As of Aug. 4, Fried was being held in the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Michele Whitehead handled the case.