An Everett police officer has been charged with child abuse for allegedly beating his 10-year-old with a belt after the father got a negative report about the son’s behavior from the boy’s school principal, according to media reports.

WHDH reported that Saugus police arrested Jermaine Bellard, 32, and charged him with assault and battery of a child.

WBZ reported that hospital officials called police after assessing the injuries, which included bruises on his back and buttocks.

A lawyer for the boy said the child was beaten by his 260-pound father because a school official had notified the parents that he was acting up in school.


The boy reported that his father beat him 14 times with a belt after he was told to lie on a bed, according to WBZ. The boy also said that this wasn’t the first time he had been beaten by his father.

A Lynn District Court judge in the case set bail for Bellard at $1,000 and ordered the man to stay away from his son and the child’s mother, reported WHDH. Bellard has two other children with his current wife.

The boy’s lawyer had asked for $10,000 bail.

But Bellard’s lawyer argued that the man, on the Everett police force since 2012, was a good police officer and not a flight risk. The lawyer suggested that there is legal precedent for parents disciplining their children, according to WHDH.