Couple accused of child abuse involving 11-year-old boy

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A Texarkana couple is facing felony charges in Bowie County, Texas, for the alleged abuse of an 11-year-old boy.

Robert Moilanen, 32, is facing multiple counts of injury to a child and Krista Moilanen, 31, is charged with injury to a child by omission, meaning she allegedly failed to intervene, stop or report child abuse.

According to probable cause documents, the couple called the Bowie County Sheriff”s Office at 12:52 a.m. Nov. 10 to report the 11-year-old boy for allegedly punching Robert Moilanen in the groin. Robert Moilanen allegedly explained the boy’s bloody nose and swollen lip as caused by a slap after the boy hit Robert Moilanen.

The boy was taken into custody and transported to the Stuart Nunn Juvenile Detention Facility.

On Nov. 16, investigators with BCSO met with Child Protective Services and shown photos of the boy taken the night he was processed into the juvenile detention facility Nov. 10. The photos showed the boy had swelling and lacerations to his nose and lips, blood on his face and in his nose, and two chipped front teeth.

The boy allegedly told a forensic interviewer that his father was making him carry rocks in a wheelbarrow and place them along the driveway on the Moilanen’s property. The boy reported he was made to pick up rocks from 9 p.m. until the time deputies were called at 12:52 a.m. The boy allegedly reported that Robert Moilanen body-slammed him face first into the ground before calling BCSO and reporting the boy had struck him in the groin.

The boy allegedly reported that Moilanen has hit him in his stomach and testicles in the past and has thrown him across the room. The boy allegedly reported that Robert Moilanen pulls his fingers back and threatens to break them and that he put a green nail under his fingernail in the summer.

A medical exam allegedly showed the boy had two broken ribs which were two weeks to two months old. The boy allegedly reported the ribs were injured by Robert Moilanen kicking him. Investigators estimated the rib injuries occurred during Sept. 24 to Nov. 24.

Documents show that Robert Moilanen was indicted in November by a Bowie County grand jury for allegedly assaulting the boy on Christmas 2018 by paddling him and punching him in the face. That case is pending.

Robert Moilanen was indicted in November in connection with injuries allegedly inflicted on the boy Dec. 25, 2018, for two counts of injury to a child. The charges are third-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.

Robert Moilanen was arrested Nov. 29 for injury to a child for the assault that allegedly occurred Nov. 10 and the injuries to the boys ribs which allegedly occurred earlier. One charge is a first-degree felony punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison and the other is a third-degree felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.

Krista Moilanen has been charged with injury to a child by omission and faces 2 to 10 years if convicted. She is currently free on a $150,000 bond. Robert Moilanen is being held in the Bowie County jail. His bond was revoked in the case stemming from the alleged abuse of the boy in 2018.

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