Associated Press, September 24, 1998

Couple Charged with Abuse for Making 7-Year-Old Eat Vomit

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A couple is accused of disciplining their 7-year-old son by making him eat his vomit and locking him in a storage shed.

Witnesses also told authorities the mother once hit her 1-year-old son so hard that his head whipped back violently.

Eddie Eugene Mann, 24, and Melanie Mann, 26, were charged Wednesday and released on personal recognizance. The two boys -- Daniel Baker, now 8, and Swing Mann, now 2 -- are no longer in the couple's custody.

Detective David Steadman of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department said authorities began an investigation in August after people who know the couple reported they had told them of the incidents.

The alleged abuse with the older boy happened in the fall of last year, police said. Steadman said there have been no recent reports of alleged abuse.