Marion boy beaten at mother's request, police say

A Marion man beat a 10-year-old boy with a belt on the request of the child's mother Thursday night, police said.

Both Peggy S. Clark and Paul Espinoza, neighbors in an apartment building at 2899 Fifth Ave., were arrested after the incident. Clark is charged with child endangerment, Espinoza with assault causing bodily injury after striking the boy several times on the back with a belt, leaving several marks.

The boy was examined at the scene by ambulance personnel but didn't require treatment, Police Sgt. Lance Miller said. He said the Department of Human Services was called to place the boy with a relative or foster home while his mother went to jail.

Complaints filed today said Clark, 40, "had been in an argument with her 10-year-old son (and) asked another adult male to enter her apartment and beat him with a belt." Espinoza, 20, complied.

Miller said officers went to the apartment building at about 10 p.m. after a witness went to a nearby bar, where he passed word to police. Clark and Espinoza were released from jail after a court appearance this morning.