Wahkia Sanders, 44, of Towamencin.
A Towamencin woman has been sentenced to probation for her role in the April 2021 assault of a 10-year-old boy at a playground at Morgandale Condominiums.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, 44-year-old Wahkia Sanders pleaded guilty on Monday to misdemeanor counts of strangulation and corruption of minors. Additional charges, including a felony aggravated assault charge, were dropped in exchange for Sanders’ plea.
Court records show Common Pleas Judge Thomas Rogers sentenced Sanders to two years’ probation on each guilty count. However, sentencing notes indicate the sentences will run concurrently, meaning she’ll be on probation for a total of two years.
Sanders is also prohibited from having any contact with the victim.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a report of a disturbance at the playground at Morgandale Condominiums at 5:30 p.m. on April 26, 2021. Witnesses told police that an adult female held down a child while she allowed her son to repeatedly strike the child in the face, and they added that they heard a lot of shouting and cursing coming from the adult female, the report states.
Upon arrival, police identified the woman as Sanders and the victim as a 10-year-old male, the report states. Sanders allegedly admitted to holding the victim down and encouraging her 8-year-old son to “tee off” on the victim, police said.
Sanders reportedly told police that “holding the child in order to then have her son assault anyone is not ok,” according to the complaint.
Police spoke with the victim, who stated that Sanders grabbed him by the neck and choked him before throwing him to the ground, the report states. Investigators said the victim was crying as he told them about the assault, and they observed red marks around his neck and clavicle area, according to the complaint.
Three days later, investigators viewed surveillance footage of the incident, which “clearly showed” Sanders repeatedly choking the victim, bending him backwards and then throwing him onto the ground, police said. Once on the ground, the footage showed Sanders applying force to the victim’s neck with her forearms while restraining the victim’s wrists, the report states.
Sanders’ son then approaches the victim and repeatedly strikes him in the face with a closed fist, according to the complaint. The criminal complaint did not provide any motive for the alleged attack.
On May 8, 2021, investigators conducted a forensic interview of the victim, who stated that he was unable to breath and the choking was “really tight,” police said. The victim told police that Sanders kept encouraging her son to punch him harder, and that he was “shaking” and “super scared” during and after the assault, according to the complaint.
The victim told investigators that after the assault, his lip was bleeding and his throat and neck “hurt a lot,” police said.
Charges were filed against Sanders on May 20, 2021, and she was taken into custody the following day. Sanders was represented by Michael P. Quinn, Esq throughout the duration of her case.
See also:
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