James Lee SkilesThe Hamilton County grand jury will hear charges that a 34-year-old Chattanooga man beat four children so severely he broke bones and caused internal injuries.
Child victims in the incident told police that James Lee Skiles would punch 2-year-old twins and a 7-year-old child in their bodies for bedwetting during nap time, according to court documents.
Hamilton County Assistant District Public Defender Alan Dunn waived Skiles' preliminary hearing before Sessions Court Judge Ronald Durby Friday morning. Durby sent the case to the grand jury for a possible indictment on three counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect and one count of child abuse and neglect.
Skiles is being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a $2 million bond.
Melissa Pinion left her six children with boyfriend Skiles on Nov. 12. When she returned to her 4905 Jeffery Lane residence in Emma Wheeler homes, the mother found her twins covered in bruises, one with a swollen leg.
Police found Pinion's 7- and 10-year old bruised children at a nearby house.
Erlanger Children's Hospital staff found that one of the twins had a fractured femur and broken rib. The other twin had rib fractures and a perforated bowel, which required emergency surgery.
A next-door neighbor told the Times Free Press that she had called police on multiple occasions to report the abuse, according to newspaper archives.
For more see tomorrow's Times Free Press.