Ansonia officer arrested, accused of choking child

ANSONIA — An Ansonia Police Officer is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a child.

Christian Idle, 38, is facing charges of strangulation and domestic violence in connection to an alleged assault that happened Thursday night, according to Darke County Common Pleas Court records.

Documents filed Friday morning show deputies from the Darke County Sheriff’s Office were called out to W. High Street Thursday night on a domestic violence complaint.

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A woman called and said that she had been outside of a home on W. Weller Street when Idle came out and “told her she need to get her son out of his house.” The woman and her sons had been living with Idle for several months, but further information about any relation was not provided in court documents.

The woman followed Idle back into the house and said he “immediately began striking and kicking her 8-year-old son.”

When the child spoke to police, he claimed Idle had grabbed him by his neck with two hands and that he also spanked and kicked him several times. The child had redness and bruising around his neck that deputies said appeared to be broken blood vessels.

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When deputies spoke with Idle, he said he had spanked the child multiple times and then held him against a wall “by the back of his neck” before going to get his mother. Idle said he then struck the child again and “gave him a kick in the butt” when the child tried to lie.

Idle was arrested and booked into the Darke County Jail. He is expected to appear in court today, according to Darke County Sheriff Mark Whittaker.

Idle has been an officer with the Ansonia Police Department since August 2017, according to Ansonia Police Chief Frank Shapiro. He’s currently on administrative leave.

The case is still under investigation by the Darke County Sheriff’s Office.

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