Lower Burrell police charged a man with a felony count of strangulation after investigators received a state ChildLine report that he choked a juvenile during an argument.
Ronald Gregory Jefferies, 38, of Caribou Drive also faces charges of simple assault and harassment in connection with the incident that allegedly occurred June 8.
Jefferies was released from custody on a $10,000 unsecured bond. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on Tuesday, Oct. 25, according to court records.
Police wrote in a criminal complaint charging Jefferies that after being notified by the state’s child abuse reporting system, forensic interviews were conducted with the child and their younger sibling who said they witnessed the incident.
The child who said they were struck told investigators that Jefferies slapped a cellphone out of their hands, dragged them by the arm and then put both hands around their throat and squeezed until “it was hard to breathe” and their neck was “throbbing,” the complaint said.
Investigators said a forensic interview done with the child’s young sibling corroborated their account, the complaint said.
Police said Jefferies told them he was aware that a ChildLine report was made against him but denied harming the child, according to the complaint.
Investigators said Jefferies agreed to undergo a polygraph test that was conducted by a state trooper Sept. 7 at the Lower Burrell police station.
Before the test was administered, Jefferies again told investigators that he “never” tried to choke the child, the complaint said.
But after the test concluded, Jefferies changed his story and said he had been drinking heavily at the time of the incident and grabbed the child by the neck with one hand, according to the complaint.
An officer reported receiving a voicemail message from Jefferies about two hours after leaving the police station saying he “wanted to recant his whole admission” and that he was coerced into admitting that he assaulted the child.
Jefferies did not have an attorney listed in court documents.
