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Minerva boy, 13, brutally beaten; father faces assault charges [PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS BOY]
The Canton Repository (Canton, Ohio) ^ | February 7, 2002 | DAVE SERENO Repository staff writer

Posted on 02/07/2002 5:41:50 AM PST by ResistorSister

CANTON — His kidneys are failing.

He has a broken ankle and possibly a fractured skull from what investigators describe as a virtual head-to-toe beating.

And the 13-year-old victim says it’s all because he didn’t do his father’s laundry correctly.

These troubling details emerged during a court hearing Wednesday as a judge removed Stephen Polen from the Minerva home where he had been living with his new family.

His father, Brook Polen, is accused of hitting his son dozens of times, at times with a hammer or mallet, before dragging the boy into a shower.

A grandfather claims the 13-year-old is the one who was out of control before authorities were called to the McKinley Avenue residence they all share.

GETTING WORSE. Beating victim Stephen Polen was moved to an Akron hospital Wednesday when his kidneys stopped working. The 13-year-old Minerva boy’s eyes swelled shut after he was struck more than 50 times Monday, allegedly at the hands of his father.
Photo courtesy of Stark County Family Court

GETTING WORSE. Beating victim
Stephen Polen was moved to an Akron
hospital Wednesday when his
kidneys stopped working. The
13-year-old Minerva boy’s eyes
swelled shut after he was struck more
than 50 times Monday, allegedly
at the hands of his father.

The ice-cold shower water was running when Minerva police found the boy, face down and unconscious, Monday evening.

His health continues to deteriorate.

Stephen was moved out of Aultman Hospital on Wednesday and taken to Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron because his kidneys stopped working.

Once well enough to talk to social workers, he has been in and out of consciousness since.

“He’s getting worse,” said Randy Muth, attorney for the Stark County Department of Job and Family Services.

His agency filed a complaint Wednesday and was given protective custody of the teen.

The father also faces criminal charges of felonious assault, child endangering and domestic violence. He pleaded innocent during his appearance in Alliance Municipal Court.

He remains in Stark County Jail. The case likely will be reviewed by a grand jury.

Brook Polen, 34, declined to comment as he left court.

He told investigators that he was defending himself, an account supported by his 62-year-old father, Robert.

“I know I blasted him (Stephen). I feel bad, but not that bad,” Brook Polen was quoted as saying in the custody complaint filed in Stark County Family Court.

Brook Polen acknowledged hitting his son at least 50 times, Erin Franklin, a Job & Family Services social worker, said during the court hearing.

According to the boy, he was being punished after trying to clean his dad’s work clothes Saturday. The dirt wound up clogging the washer.

Two days later, his father ordered him to do 50 pushups as punishment. The boy told the social worker he could do less than 20 on the concrete floor.

That’s when Brook Polen allegedly got a mallet or hammer and began hitting the boy in the knees, feet, back and head. The teen said he was knocked out briefly after also being punched and kicked.

The teen said he was then ordered to shower and go to bed. Unable to walk, he was dragged to the shower and put under the cold water.

Photos taken at the hospital by social workers show dozens of welts and large bruises, many in a circular shape. His eyes have since swollen shut.

Brook Polen denied using a hammer or mallet to hit his son. Police confiscated several from the home.

One punch to the boy’s chin came with such force that the boy fell back into the wall and briefly lost consciousness, Franklin said.

Upon hearing Franklin’s account, Judge Jim James assigned custody to Job & Family Services so its workers could make any necessary medical decisions on Stephen’s behalf.

James also barred Brook Polen or his parents from having any contact with the youth.

That’s fine with Robert Polen, the boy’s grandfather.

“I really don’t care what happens to him, I really don’t,” he said in a telephone interview following the hearing.

“This kid has been nothing but trouble.”

The boy, also known as Stephen Raines, had been living in the small, southeastern Stark County community only a few months. He moved from California when his mother, Donna Raines, died in July.

Brook Polen told investigators he didn’t even know the boy was his until about three years ago.

“I think Brook really wanted to keep the child. He spent thousands (of dollars) to go get him,” the grandfather said.

Brook and Stephen were living in the basement of the home. The grandparents and another teen live upstairs.

Job & Family Services got involved with the family in late December when concerns about the boy’s behavior and hygiene arose.

His behavior only got worse, the grandfather said.

The altercation grew out of the boy’s refusal to shower, not the botched laundry alleged by social workers, he said.

The grandfather said he heard screaming from the basement and got there in time to see Stephen, said to be 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 166 pounds, hit his father in the chest and face.

“(Stephen) definitely initiated it. He threw the first punch,” the grandfather said. “(Brook) didn’t hit him with anything but his fists.”

According to the complaint filed in Stark County Family Court, Robert Polen said Stephen was “putting on another show” as the unconscious teen was being put into the ambulance.

The grandfather denies making the remark.

He says social workers should have taken the boy away sooner.

“Job and Family Services stinks because they didn’t do their jobs. If they’d have done their job, there wouldn’t have been any problems.”

Muth said his agency was asked to help the family work through their problems, not remove the boy.

“We have an obligation under the law to keep families together, and we do that when it’s at all possible.”

Whatever trouble Stephen might have been causing, the response he got back can never bee seen as appropriate, Muth said.

“This kid’s in renal failure, can’t move his arms and his dad doesn’t have a mark on him.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dailyprayer; prayerlist
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I do not know this boy, but I am heartsick over the brutality that he suffered from the hand of his father; plus the fact that his grandfather said that he does not care what happens to this little guy.

His mother is dead, so he needs some good folks to pray for him. Please pray for - Stephen Polen - to recover from this beating.

1 posted on 02/07/2002 5:41:51 AM PST by ResistorSister
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To: ResistorSister
This makes me sick to my stomach. I am a victim of physical child abuse at the hands of my father but never did I get what this kid got. I pray for this kid to survive and I pray for that so called father to be given the worst possible sentence. What is the most time this guy can get?
2 posted on 02/07/2002 5:50:25 AM PST by Mixer
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To: ResistorSister
He told investigators that he was defending himself, an account supported by his 62-year-old father, Robert. “I know I blasted him (Stephen). I feel bad, but not that bad,” Brook Polen was quoted as saying in the custody complaint filed in Stark County Family Court.

Will the people on FreeRepublic who rallied behind the Gentle Giant, Thomas Junta, defend this big man ?

3 posted on 02/07/2002 5:50:48 AM PST by a_witness
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To: ResistorSister
Is grandpaw saying if the boy gives you trouble it's OK to beat him to death? Like father like grandpaw. I hope they charge the whole family.
4 posted on 02/07/2002 5:51:13 AM PST by Wagonmaster
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To: ResistorSister
May Stephen Polen live and be healed from all his injuries. May he learn to be a real man.
5 posted on 02/07/2002 5:52:10 AM PST by a_witness
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To: Wagonmaster
Maybe his attorney will say "just let him come home to his Hockey Family" ...
6 posted on 02/07/2002 5:53:33 AM PST by a_witness
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To: a_witness
I can't believe you would stoop to compare two MEN fighting to a man literally beating a child near death!

I hope you realize the difference!

7 posted on 02/07/2002 5:55:53 AM PST by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
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To: All
You discipline your child because you love your child.

You do it for your Childs sake, this is not an act of love, but sheer senseless brutality.

Tony

8 posted on 02/07/2002 5:56:07 AM PST by tonycavanagh
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To: ResistorSister
Praying. I hope they lock the father up and punish the grandfather for allowing the abuse. Both of them sound like cold-hearted, brutish bullies. Whatever his problems might have been, the boy did not to deserve to be beaten nearly to death, especially by someone who should have had his best interests at heart. I can't imagine how this will turn out, but I hope he survives to have a happy, productive life.
9 posted on 02/07/2002 5:56:25 AM PST by lsee
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To: a_witness
"Will the people on FreeRepublic who rallied behind the Gentle Giant, Thomas Junta, defend this big man ?"

No, it's not even remotely similar. This father ought to get life in prison for attempted murder and the grandfather's a creep.

10 posted on 02/07/2002 5:57:10 AM PST by spunkets
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To: Mixer
What is the most time this guy can get?

I don't know, but I like your idea of: "worst possible sentence."

11 posted on 02/07/2002 5:57:53 AM PST by ResistorSister
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To: ResistorSister
The grandfather said he heard screaming from the basement and got there in time to see Stephen, said to be 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 166 pounds, hit his father in the chest and face. “(Stephen) definitely initiated it. He threw the first punch,” the grandfather said. “(Brook) didn’t hit him with anything but his fists.”

Well it looks like the Thomas Junta defense team has a new case ...

12 posted on 02/07/2002 5:58:28 AM PST by a_witness
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To: WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
Well, the beating reminded me of Junta's brutality, too. I was appalled at the excuses given for that man's behavior and hope such pleas will not be entered for this father who tried to kill his boy.
13 posted on 02/07/2002 5:58:56 AM PST by lsee
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To: spunkets
No, it's not even remotely similar. This father ought to get life in prison for attempted murder and the grandfather's a creep.
  1. Did you defend Junta ?
  2. What is different, other than the age ?

14 posted on 02/07/2002 5:59:29 AM PST by a_witness
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To: a_witness
Will the people on FreeRepublic who rallied behind the Gentle Giant, Thomas Junta, defend this big man?

It is not possible, even for the fans of the Gentle Giant, to defend the father in this story.

15 posted on 02/07/2002 5:59:31 AM PST by ResistorSister
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To: spunkets
Oh, the boy is still alive, barely. I see the difference.
16 posted on 02/07/2002 6:00:09 AM PST by a_witness
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To: tonycavanagh
I felt nauseated just reading this. It challenges the concept of humanity and supports the notion of true evil.
17 posted on 02/07/2002 6:01:35 AM PST by US admirer
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To: ResistorSister
Well they could put them in the same cell (although I think both should probably be executed instead) and they could tell each other they were innocent ...
18 posted on 02/07/2002 6:02:26 AM PST by a_witness
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To: Wagonmaster
I wondered the same thing when I read the grandpa's comments...like father like grandpa. It must take evil a few generations to gather such brutal hatred.
19 posted on 02/07/2002 6:02:49 AM PST by ResistorSister
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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