A Morgantown man was charged with third-degree sexual assault after allegedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl.
Also, a Morgantown couple was charged with child abuse after a juvenile in their care said the pair used a belt as a form of discipline.
Jaysiah Dawson, 21, was arrested for planning to meet the preteen girl at a Granville home, according to a police report.
Police were told Dowson had been involved sexually with the young girl despite knowing she is underage.
The girl’s parents told police he continued to communication with their daughter even when he knew she was just 12.
Dawson is being held in the North Central Regional Jail on a $50,000 bond.
In the abuse case, West Virginia State Police learned that troopers in Pennsylvania were investigating a report from a juvenile that an adult in Morgantown hit them with a belt several times on or around May 16.
The victim told troopers Tequila Pase, 25, of Morgantown, was mean and hits them, alleging that Pase used her hand to smack and hit them, leaving marks on the victim’s face, according to the police report.
The juvenile victim also told troopers that Christopher Brown, 33, of Morgantown, hit the victim with a belt and his hand and also used a belt to hit another juvenile at the residence.
When troopers showed Pase a picture of the juvenile’s injuries, she told them she confirmed with the doctor that the child plays outside and bites themselves. When asked about Brown’s discipline, she said he doesn’t try to hurt.
Brown spoke to troopers at the Morgantown detachment of the West Virginia State Police, telling them he only disciplines the children with permission from Pase first and that he had smacked the juvenile on the backside and confirmed that he had used a belt, but only as a last resort.
Both were charged with child abuse resulting in injury and were in North Central Regional Jail on a $3,000 bond.