Man Sentenced for Beating Friend’s Son
A Panorama City man was sentenced to nearly two years in prison after pleading no contest for the second time in three months to physically abusing his girlfriend’s 12-year-old son, Los Angeles City Atty. Jim Hahn said Friday.
Joe Clyde Wells, 41, drew the 695-day sentence Thursday from Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan Ellis. In June, he had been sentenced to 30 days in jail for slapping and verbally abusing the boy.
Police arrested Wells Tuesday night at the Willis Avenue apartment where the victim lives with his mother and 17-month-old brother, Hahn said.
The victim and his mother told officers that Wells began pushing the boy in the chest after the youngster asked Wells if he had brought an inner tube for the boy’s bicycle.
When the boy tried to leave the apartment, Wells put him in a headlock, pinched his cheeks and threw him over the living room table, Hahn said. The boy’s mother then intervened and told the boy to run. He went to a neighbor’s home and called police.
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