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(4:20 PM) Man Wanted In Oklahoma Child Abuse Case Found Locally

A former Jamestown area resident wanted in Oklahoma on child abuse charges was located in Cattaraugus County on Friday.

The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 30-year-old William E. Barnes, who was staying with a friend in Jamestown while being wanted as a fugitive from justice in Grady County, Okla.

Deputies located Barnes in a residence on Hardscrabble Road in Cold Spring while assisting Child Protective Services at the location.

Barnes was taken into custody without incident and arraigned in Little Valley Town Court on charges of child abuse, child neglect and failure to protect a child from child abuse, all felonies. He is expected to be extradited back to Oklahoma, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The former Jamestown resident is the latest to face charges stemming from a child abuse investigation in Grady County.

According to The Express-Star, a newspaper that serves Grady County, Oklahoma, April Summers, a Panama Central School graduate, was charged with child abuse, failure to protect from child abuse and child neglect. Also named was Amber Barnes on charges of child abuse, child neglect and failure to protect from child abuse. Jeffrey Rasmussen was arrested on charges of child abuse by injury, child neglect and failure to protect from child abuse.

Another person, George Mount, was charged with failure to protect from child abuse and child neglect while an arrest warrant has been issued for William Barnes for child abuse, child neglect and failure to protect from child abuse.

News 4 in Oklahoma City reported that the alleged victim is a 13-year-old boy. The Grady County Sheriff’s Department became involved in the case after a complaint was made by the boy’s teacher to the Department of Human Services, which in turn alerted the Grady County Sheriff’s Department. The television station reports the child was removed from the home in February when the allegations were made. It took investigators between February and late April to build their case, which includes alleged text messages and online conversations between Amber Barnes and April Summers regarding the child being cuffed.

“This child is going to have some things to deal with for years to come and, with him having a disability already, it’s very unfortunate and sad,” Grady County Undersheriff Phil Blevins told News 4. “We’re talking about something that more than likely is going to go to trial, so we’re going to meet the threshold of proving beyond a reasonable doubt. So, we want to make sure we got our ducks in a row so to speak.”

According to the report, William Barnes slept in the same room with the victim. William Barnes allegedly urinated on the victim while intoxicated on several occasions, according to the report. Summers and Amber Barnes allegedly superglued paper to the victim’s head and then ripped the paper off when the superglue dried. A Grady County Sheriff’s Deputy observed several places on the victim’s head where patches of hair were missing.

In March, Summers, Rasmussen and Amber Barnes were recognized for helping children escape further injury where their bus caught fire in a deadly head-on crash in Oklahoma.

Summers, Amber and Rasmussen are all facing a $300,000 bond. Mount’s bond was set at $100,000.

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