DAYTON — A mother and her boyfriend have been formally charged in connection with a child abuse investigation in Dayton.
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Stephanas Golden, 40, was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on seven counts of child endangering, two counts of strangulation, and resisting arrest.
Heather Pippen, 35, was indicted on two counts of child endangering, one count of strangulation, and one count of obstructing official business.
Pippen is the mother of five children in the home and the aunt of the other two younger children.
Golden is Pippen’s boyfriend and isn’t the father of any of the seven children that were removed from the home.
The children were homeschooled, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr., during a press conference on Friday.
Heck said the children were beaten with a belt on the head and neck and beaten with a paddle to the point of bleeding.
“I think the abuse perpetrated on these children was nothing short of sadistic," Heck said.
As previously reported, this case is connected to a viral social media video.
On April 21, News Center 7 watched as Dayton police were at a house on Wroe Avenue.
It was the second time that officers were at the home for a child endangering complaint.
The night before, a dad asked for a welfare check on his 15-year-old daughter, who lives here.
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Police said they spoke with the man and woman who live there and the 15-year-old.
She was not willing to explain what led to what they called “a small injury” to her lip.
Police said they did not have enough to arrest at that time.
Officers came back to the home for another welfare check the next day.
Police said people outside the home made the department aware of a video on social media that showed a man beating a 10-year-old girl inside the house.
As a result of the investigation, children services took seven children from the house.
The seven children were divided into three separate foster homes.
When asked if Heck believes the children would have died at one point, he said: “I don’t think there’s any question about it.”
The two are being held on a $500,000 bond.
We will continue to follow this story.
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