The parents of a 4-year-old boy were charged with child
abuse or neglect stemming from incidents that took place
over the course of three days at a residence in Lenoir
City.
Terry Lee Shelton, 36, Lenoir City, was previously
arrested on three counts of rape after the child told
forensic officials that the man “touched me here” and
pointed to his crotch area, according to a Loudon County
Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The boy told officials that Shelton, boyfriend of the
child’s grandmother, took his hand and placed it on the
man’s penis and motioned what he was instructed to do,
according to police. Shelton also had the boy place his
mouth on the man’s penis, Loudon County Sheriff’s Inv.
Jeff Russell wrote.
Police later arrested the child’s mother, Katelyn
Marie Perdue, 24, Lenoir City, and father,
Christopher Shawn Hart, 36, Lenoir City, for child
abuse or neglect.
“When asked if he had told anyone about this he said
he had told his dad that Terry had touched him and
his dad (Hart) told Terry not to (do) this again,”
Russell wrote in a separate report, noting that the
child also told Perdue and the boy’s grandmother.
The grandmother has not been charged, Russell said.
He said that although child abuse or neglect falls
under the same statute, the parents were arrested
for the latter offense.
“It’s more of a neglect area than the abuse but
because of the neglect, the incident happened to the
child again,” Russell said.
During an interview with police, Shelton admitted to
the counts of rape, which took place Dec. 29 and two
days in early January, according to the arrest
report. During the incident in December, Shelton was
in the bed watching a pornographic movie with the
boy as his grandmother was asleep, according to
police.
Shelton “did place (the boy’s) hand on his penis and
had him to masturbate him and also had him perform
oral sex on him,” according to the earlier police
report. Similar incidents happened Jan. 2 and Jan.
3, according to police.
Police learned about the allegations of rape when an
official with the Tennessee Department of Children's
Services visited the home in reference to a “drug
exposed child,” according to the arrest report.
Hart told police that he “didn’t think it (the
incident) was in (a) sexual manner but did tell
Terry he would have to leave if he didn’t Quit,”
Russell wrote.
Hart and Perdue were charged and each have a bond
amount of $20,000. Perdue’s arrest was initially
reported in the Jan. 13-14 edition of the
News-Herald, but additional information was not
available by presstime and a bond amount had not
been set at that time.
Shelton’s bond was set at $450,000 bond.