Man arrested in alleged abuse of toddler

A Carson City mechanic was arrested Tuesday for allegedly burning a toddler several times with a cigarette and spanking the boy with a spatula.

Steven Jones, listed in county records as the owner of H&S Motorcycles on Highway 50 East, was booked into the Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony child abuse causing substantial bodily harm.

According to the arrest report, Jones, 20, allegedly arrived at a home on Sandstone Drive on April 15 where he told a female friend that her child needed discipline. Detective Craig Lowe said that Jones had cared for the boy the day before.

The woman told police that while Jones and her son were in the kitchen, she heard her son scream, and when she went to see what was happening, Jones allegedly grabbed the boy and shoved him into the bathroom.

The woman said Jones then broke the bathroom door lock making it impossible to open, and fled the home.

The mother and friends spent 45 minutes freeing the child, the report states. When the mother saw her child, she noticed a burn on the back of his hand. When she asked him where it came from, he said, "Steven's cigarette," the report states.

The mother then removed the child's clothing and found other burns on his abdomen and arm and red marks on his face and torso. The mother also found a large mark covering one of the child's buttocks which resembled the pattern of a plastic spatula in the kitchen.

The family photographed the boy's injuries and provided those photos to police when they reported the abuse the following day, said Detective Craig Lowe.

On Tuesday, Jones was interviewed by investigators.

According to the report, he claimed the child locked himself in the bathroom and he tried to free the boy with a spatula, that the boy's father assaulted the child and that Jones was not at the house on April 15. Lowe noted in the report that the boy's father was at work at the time of the alleged incident.

"Mr. Jones admitted to having a conversation with the child regarding discipline, but denied using any physical force," Lowe wrote in the arrest report.

Following the interview, Jones was arrested on probable cause.

He posted $25,000 bail and was released Wednesday evening.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.