A child reported to the police that a woman used a paddle called the “attitude adjuster” to hit him and also kicked him in a sensitive area. Courtney Crites, 32, was taken into custody in West Virginia after one of the five children in her care claimed she caused bruises on his back, shoulder, and chest. The authorities were alerted to a potential case of child abuse on January 1. The child alleged that Crites subjected him to various forms of harm, such as leaving him outside in cold weather, kicking, hitting, and yelling at him.
Following interviews with the children at the residence where the woman lived with her boyfriend, police arrested Crites and charged her with three counts of felony child abuse. According to reports, the boy stated that Crites had kicked and hit him, as well as screamed at him. He mentioned that Crites used the paddle as a form of punishment for not putting his clothes away correctly, which she called “the attitude adjuster.” The child claimed that Crites once pushed him outside in the cold, then brought him back inside to strike him with the paddle until it broke.
Describing the paddle as two by four inches and approximately two feet long, the boy expressed fear when Crites broke it by hitting him. He suffered bruises on his shoulder, chest, and back, which lasted for several months. The child also recounted that Crites would kick him when she was angry. The nature of the relationship between Crites and the boy was not disclosed by the police. Crites is currently held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $100,000 bond.
In another tragic incident, a mother admitted to killing her seven-year-old son despite his desperate attempts to seek help. Nathaniel Burton had confided in his grandmothers about his concerns regarding his mother’s intentions. However, despite multiple interventions by social services, the warnings were overlooked. Nathaniel passed away on February 18, 2021, with prosecutors suggesting that his mother suffocated him a day earlier. The mother initially pleaded guilty to the crime in March 2024 but later retracted her plea. She eventually pleaded guilty again in November 2025 and received a 35-year prison sentence.