MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Sheriff's Office has charged a man after he got physical with his son over not doing school work.
According to an affidavit, SCSO deputies responded to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28 on a report of a domestic violence injury that had happened in the 1800 block of Chalkwell Cove in Cordova.
The victim's mother told deputies that her ex-boyfriend, who is the child's father, physically assaulted their son at his Cordova home.
A relative contacted the mother saying the victim had contacted her telling her that his dad had hit him multiple times.
That relative went to pick up the victim from his father's home and took pictures of the injuries, then text the pictures to his mother.
The mother called the father, Christopher Simmons, 34, about their son's injuries, and Simmons told the mother that he had physically assaulted the victim because he had found out that he wasn't doing his school work.
The mother was then contacted by Germantown High School, stating they were aware of the physical assault. But, she didn't know how the school was made aware of the situation.
She told deputies, her son has been living with his father, Christopher Simmons, since March because of behavioral issues.
When deputies talked to the victim, he told them, around 8 a.m. he was sitting in the home office when his dad came home from work upset. He said Simmons confronted him about not doing his virtual learning for school. He said during the conversation his father became very irate and hit him in the face with his fist. When he covered his face to protect himself, he said, Simmons started hitting him on his right side.
The victim said when his dad left the house about an hour later, he called his cousin to pick him up.
Le Bonheur doctors told deputies, the victim had three broken ribs, a punctured lung and tissue damage to his left eye.
Le Bonheur reported the incident to the Department of Children's Services and Simmons was charged with Aggravated Child Abuse and Neglect and Aggravated Assault.