When a man evidently no longer wanted to care for his 5-year-old son, the boy’s grandfather took him in. But soon after, he realized something was terribly wrong. After noticing bruising on the child, he took him to the hospital. There, investigators say they began to uncover a history of horrific abuse at the hands of the boy’s father, 29-year-old Charles Smitley V, and his girlfriend, 35-year-old Colleen Cassidy. Now the pair are sitting in jail on child abuse charges.
KDKA reported that Monessen Police Lt. Aaron Thompson said his station first learned about the alleged abuse in April 2025, from the Pennsylvania State Police. Smitley allegedly told his father he didn’t want to care for the boy who’d been living with him, Cassidy, and her 11-year-old son. According to court documents obtained by KDKA, the grandfather recognized signs of abuse almost immediately.
The grandfather noticed the child “had a foul odor” and complained of stomach pain. He also walked as if he was in pain. When the grandfather gave the child a bath, he noticed bruising on his legs and buttocks. This prompted a trip to Uniontown Hospital in West Virginia.
Staff later transported the child to West Virginia University Ruby Memorial Hospital, where the “emaciated” child told a nurse his dad “had spanked him with a white paddle … every day.” The child also claimed his father forced him to eat his own waste, court documents noted.
“He revealed that he was forced to eat feces, that he was not being fed properly, that he had been tied down in a chair previously by his father’s girlfriend,” Thompson told KDKA.
The boy reportedly told police that Smitley and Cassidy forced him to sleep in the basement bathroom without blankets or any padding. Cassidy’s 11-year-old son reportedly told investigators his mother and her boyfriend put duct tape on the 5-year-old to restrain him. The 11-year-old claimed no one hurt him.
The couple’s neighbor, Katherine Secleter, told KDKA she had no idea about the abuse the child had allegedly been enduring behind closed doors. She said Cassidy and Smitley “seemed polite.” The news of the arrest brought mixed feelings. “My heart celebrates that bad people are off the street, but it aches for those kids,” she said.
Per KDKA, police booked Cassidy and Smitley in the Westmoreland County Jail on bail of $100,000 and $250,000, respectively. They are due in court on August 22. They are each facing child abuse charges.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child), or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
