The children were told not to move as a woman beat their mom, jail records show.

CANTON Police believe a father held four children at gunpoint as another woman beat their mother shortly after 4 a.m. Tuesday.

"The (victim's) children were crying when speaking to officers, stating they believed (he and the woman) were going to return to kill them," according to Stark County Jail records.

Police Capt. Dave Davis said the children range in age from 1 to 8 years old.

The father of one of them, identified as Lamar L. Range, 34, of the 400 block of Gobel Avenue NE, has been jailed.

He and Ashlie C. Stokes, 32, of the 700 block of Prospect Avenue SW, were arrested about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at Range's home on charges of aggravated burglary, felonious assault and abduction, and four counts each of kidnapping and endangering children, Stark County Jail records show.

Range was additionally charged with two counts of domestic violence.

According to the jail records, Range and Stokes had a gun about 4 a.m. Tuesday when they entered the Mahoning Road NE home of the woman, who is the mother of one of his children. Range is accused of pointing a gun at her and the children, threatening "to kill them if they moved or if the children were not quiet" while Stokes reportedly beat their mother.

Police reports do not say whether the woman received medical attention or list the extent of her injuries. But the jail records showed she suffered "significant injuries."

Stark County court records show Range was convicted in 2010 of felonious assault and domestic violence, and sentenced to three years of intensive supervisory probation. He went to prison in 2008 for cocaine possession, the court records show.

Range and Stokes remained in jail later Tuesday. He was held in lieu of $60,000 bond and she in lieu of $51,000 bond, each pending Canton Municipal Court hearings.

Reach Lori at 330-580-8309 or lori.steineck@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @lsteineckREP