Not guilty plea entered for Riverside father accused of ‘serious child abuse’

WHIO Staff — One of two Riverside parents accused of “serious child abuse” has made his first court appearance.

Dustin Shade, 25, appeared in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Tuesday morning for his scheduled arraignment.

News Center 7 was in court Tuesday morning when Shade appeared before a judge. There, Judge Mary Wiseman entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Riverside parents indicted after children found ‘severely’ malnourished

Shade, along with 20-year-old Maleah Renee Henry-Reed, were indicted Friday on four counts of endangering children and one count of tampering with evidence.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Henry-Reed took her and Shade’s 15-month-old daughter to Hope Medical Center in Dayton on Jan. 17 because the child was sick.

The child was immediately taken by ambulance to Dayton Children’s Hospital and was admitted to the intensive care unit.

The 15-month-old was so malnourished that she weighed less than 10 pounds, which is closer to what a 15-week-old child would weigh, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr.

The medical staff at Dayton Children’s notified the Riverside Police Department about the critical condition of the child because they suspected abuse, Heck said Friday.

>> Several dogs killed after fire breaks out in Huber Heights home

After obtaining a search warrant of Henry-Reed and Shade’s home, the officers met Shade, who was holding the couple’s five-year-old son. The boy was taken to the hospital and was also found to be severely malnourished, only weighing about 20 pounds.

Officers also noted that the couple’s home was a “mess” and “smelled like urine.”

Experts say malnourishment can create dozens of short and long-term impacts, including bleeding guns, soft bones, bruising easily, weakened immune systems, poor mental health development and potential behavioral abnormalities.

Shade remains booked in the Montgomery County Jail on a $500,000 bond, which Wiseman continued during Tuesday’s arraignment.

Heck previously said the prosecutor’s office has filed a motion with the court to have the bond increased to $1,000,000 on both Henry-Reed and Shade.

©2023 Cox Media Group