A 61-year-old Lula man, Douglas Motes, remained in the Hall County Jail Wednesday following his arrest in a child cruelty case last week, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday morning.
HCSO NARRATIVE:
“On Friday…around 9:20 p.m., deputies…responded to a residence on Grove Street in Lula to investigate a physical domestic incident.
The investigation at the scene determined Motes had become angry with a female child under the age of 14 and had cornered her near her bathroom and bedroom, refusing to allow her to leave the residence. Motes also struck the girl multiple times on her head with a piece of wood trim. The child suffered a visible bruise on the back of her neck during the assault.
Motes and the child, along with five other people, lived together in the residence.
Motes was arrested on charges of aggravated assault under the Family Violence Act (FVA), false imprisonment and first-degree child cruelty, all felony offenses. In addition, he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor third-degree child cruelty because there were three children under the age of 18 in the house when the incident occurred.
Motes is being held without bond.”