RICHMOND, IN — A former Richmond resident — convicted in separate Wayne Circuit Court cases of striking a police officer in the eye with his head and hitting a 4-year-old boy in the face — has received a one-year jail sentence.
Hunter Black, 25 — more recently of Ridgeville in Randolph County — had pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer and domestic battery resulting in bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age, both Level 5 felonies carrying up to six years in prison.
According to court records, Black on Monday, June 22, was sentenced to a year in jail in one case, and received a two-year suspended sentence in the other.
He received credit for 225 days already served in the Wayne County Jail.
When approached about allegations he had struck the child in the face in June 2024, Black at first told Richmond police detectives the mark on his son’s face was “from the way he slept,” and he later suggested the boy had been struck by staff members or children at a day-care facility.
The probe began when Richmond police and the Indiana Department of Child Services were notified the child had showed up at the day care with “a red mark on his face that appeared to be a handprint,” according to an affidavit.
The court document indicated the child told an employee of the facility he had been struck by his father.
That same month, Black — reportedly after being told the state agency was taking custody of his four children — refused to leave the local DCS office and, in a struggle, struck a police officer in the eye with his head.
The Ridgeville man will be on probation for two years.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Ex-Richmond resident sentenced for battering 4-year-old son, officer
Reporting by Douglas Walker, Richmond Palladium-Item / Richmond Palladium-Item
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Douglas Walker, Richmond Palladium-Item | USA TODAY Network
