Updated: 11/10/2009 5:57 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email
By: Becky Nahm

Mpls. Man Accused of Beating, Burning Boy

A Minneapolis man allegedly beat a boy with an extension cord, burned him with an iron and turned on the oven as the child hid inside.

Hennepin County prosecutors charged William Tajahn Hurley, 23, with malicious punishment of a child.

According to the criminal complaint, police received a call reporting child abuse on Nov. 6. Officers responded to an apartment in Minneapolis.

There they met with a 10-year-old boy who said his father, Hurley, "whooped" him for entering his mother's bedroom.

Police said Hurley is not the boy's biological father.

The boy said Hurley punched him and threatened to kill him. He said Hurley burned him on his leg and his arm with a hot iron.

The boy told police he ran out of the apartment to escape, but his mother grabbed him and brought him back inside.

He said Hurley whipped him with an electrical extension cord. He said he hid inside the oven, but climbed out when Hurley turned it on.

The responding officers noticed marks on the boy consistent with being whipped and burned.

According to the complaint, Hurley admitted that he had "whooped" the boy and that he would do it again.

He allegedly threatened to beat the boy in front of the officers and had to be restrained.

The charge against Hurley carries a maximum punishment of one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Hurley is in custody.

The boy was treated at a local hospital.

Investigators said the boy's mother could also face charges.