Pennsylvania lawmaker switches from Democrat to independent

Mahut and Herbert give France win over Japan in Davis Cup

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A city woman was locked up Tuesday after a magistrate set her bail at $50,000 on charges she abused her adopted children, repeatedly beating them over a long period of time.</p><p>Carmen Inocente, 54, appeared before District Judge Thomas Malloy on Tuesday morning, turning herself on charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and simple assault. Court records show charges were filed on Oct. 31, but Inocente claimed in court on Tuesday she was unaware of the charges until more recently and that she had been in New York with her sick mother.</p><p>Court records show Inocente&#8217;s two adopted children, a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, made claims of a pattern of abuse by Inocente during interviews with the Luzerne County Children&#8217;s Advocacy Center. The interviews occurred in early August.</p><p>The boy claimed he and his sister were adopted by Inocente and lived with her, their cousins and an uncle until an incident in March where Inocente allegedly attacked the girl for having a cell phone in her room.</p><p>The boy said the girl was given an old cellphone by a friend, but Inocente did not want her to have one. She allegedly beat her &#8220;crazy&#8221; during the late March incident, slapping her and punching her in her bedroom. The girl corroborated her brother&#8217;s claims in her interview, saying Inocente started hitting her because &#8220;she did not want her socializing.&#8221;</p><p>Further, Inocente continued the attack the next morning, the girl said, with Inocente forcing her onto the bed and forcibly cut her hair &#8220;in order to punish her for having the phone.&#8221; The children&#8217;s uncle witnessed part of the assault and called 911, but the girl said Inocente forced them to hide in the attic before police arrived.</p><p>Inocente also allegedly took the girl to school to identify who gave her the phone in order to have the friend suspended. She also tried to take her out of school, but the school refused.</p><p>The boy also claims a pattern of abuse, saying on separate incidents, he was hit by Inocente with a wire, a stick and a horse whip on &#8220;multiple occasions.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He stated he would have to wear long sleeve shirts to school so the bruises on his arms wouldn&#8217;t show,&#8221; the affidavit reads.</p><p>The boy says once he couldn&#8217;t go to school for a week after Inocente badly scratched his face. The officer who filed the affidavit claims he saw a 2-inch scar on the boy&#8217;s face.</p><p>The boy further says he wouldn&#8217;t go to a doctor or report the abuse because Inocente would threaten them with further injury. Inocente also allegedly told them she &#8220;should have never adopted them&#8221; and called them derogatory terms.</p><p>Another witness who lived in the home, who is not identified but appears to be the children&#8217;s uncle based on his testimony, claims he saw Inocente beating the girl, and attempted to stop her and called 911 himself. The man says he has since moved out of the home and got a PFA against her for both himself and the children. He claims Inocente has continued to contact him in violation of the PFA.</p><p>While the charges filed relate specifically to the March incident, the children claim the abuse has followed them since their adoption when they were 5 and 6.</p><p>In court on Tuesday morning, her attorney, James Barr, attempted to argue for either a reduced bail or an unsecured bail, claiming the boy had made previous claims to Children and Youth that were unfounded. Malloy disagreed, though, setting bail at $50,000 due to both the severity of the charges and his perception that Inocente was a flight risk.</p><p>Inocente became emotional, attempting to argue through an interpreter that she was not a flight risk, but she was cuffed and taken to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.</p><p>Malloy set her preliminary hearing for Dec. 5. </p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Gavel-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Gavel-4.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL112019Inocente1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Carmen Inocente is taken into custody after an arraignment on Tuesday morning.  Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL112019Inocente1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Carmen Inocente is taken into custody after an arraignment on Tuesday morning.  Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WB woman allegedly severely beat adopted children, held on $50 thousand bail