ERVING — A local man has been charged with assault and battery after allegedly hitting his girlfriend’s 11-year-old son.

Allan J. Gordon, 33, of 13 High St., is accused of striking the boy on the shoulder, leaving a mark, on the morning of May 27, after the boy fought with his 9-year-old sister.

Gordon pleaded innocent in Orange District Court last week and was released on personal recognizance. He faces not more than two and a half years behind bars and a fine of not more than $10,000.

According to court documents, state police Sgt. Thomas F. Bakey was assigned to assist an investigator from the Department of Children and Families on May 27 after a bus monitor reported overhearing the boy’s sister say she didn’t cry when Gordon hit her and the boy responded by saying she wasn’t struck in the face. The boy’s fifth-grade teacher at Erving Elementary School noticed a mark on the boy’s left shoulder. The child said the mark was made by Gordon earlier that morning, after the children’s mother had left for work.

The school’s psychologist asked the boy if Gordon left the mark on his shoulder and the boy nodded his head. The psychologist took a photograph of the mark, which she said had a clear outline of a hand and fingers.

The DCF investigator and the state police interviewed the boy and his sister separately. The girl said Gordon has previously struck her on the arms and legs for misbehaving and did so again on May 27. She said Gordon used an open hand to strike her on her leg and her brother on the arm. The boy said it has happened before.

The DCF investigator and the state police interviewed Gordon and the children’s mother, separately at their home. The mother said “there’s no excuse” for Gordon’s actions, but the mark looks worse than it is because her son has sensitive skin.

Gordon, according to Bakey, initially denied striking the boy’s arm, saying he believed he struck him in the leg, as he did with the boy’s sister. Gordon said he normally disciplines the children by placing them in a corner but was frustrated that morning. He said he threatens to strike the children but had done so only three times.

“I’m pretty positive it was the calf. … But it was 6:30 in the morning, though, but I didn’t really think I had gotten him that hard … if it was mine,” Gordon told Blakey, according to a court document.

Both children gave the same details to a forensic interviewer on June 7, though both also talked about the boy’s “sensitive skin,” which Blakey does not believe they mentioned on May 27.

Gordon has a pretrial conference scheduled for Nov. 18.

You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 258.
On Twitter: @DomenicPoli