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Background: The Kenton County Detention Center in Covington, Kentucky (Google Maps). Insets (from left to right): Patricia Stokes and Antonio Collier (Kenton County Detention Center).
A Kentucky couple, a mother and her husband, have been convicted of severely disciplining her child with extension cords and belts, according to authorities.
The Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirmed that Patricia Stokes, aged 33, and Antonio Collier, aged 32, were found guilty of first-degree criminal abuse. Additionally, Stokes faced a conviction for fourth-degree assault, while Collier was found guilty of second-degree assault.
The case traces back to December 2024, when a 9-year-old boy’s aunt observed scars on his body, as reported by WXIX, a Fox affiliate in Cincinnati. Concerned, she took him to the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center. There, the child revealed that he had endured abuse at the hands of his mother and stepfather for over a year.
Investigators from the Covington Police Department uncovered that the child had been removed from school in 2023 and was largely confined to his room. During this time, he reportedly suffered beatings with various household items and even fists.
According to jail records, Stokes was taken into custody and booked at the Kenton County Detention Center on December 12, 2024. At the time of her arrest, Collier was not present.
“Her 9-year-old son was found by a family member to have scars and marks all over his body where he had been beaten with a number of different items that we think includes an electric cord and some type of hanger,” Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders said at the time, per WXIX. “The parents know the marks they left on the child would cause alarm with school staff and cause them to call police.”
“It gets at your emotions when you see that a child is scared because of the abuse he’s undergone,” the prosecutor added, calling the defendants’ actions “basically torture.” Sanders said the boy is “not only going to suffer from the mental scars, but actual physical scars for the rest of his life. It will be very difficult for him to outrun the abuse that he’s suffered.”
Collier was later arrested and booked into the Kenton County Detention Center on Jan. 8, 2025.
Authorities said they will announce a sentencing date for Stokes and Collier at a later date. The Kenton County jury that convicted them recommended Stokes serve 16 years and Collier serve 24 years — 16 for the abuse charge and eight for assault — with Collier’s sentences to be served at the same time.