Tulsa Couple Arrested For Felony Child Abuse

A school counselor alerted Tulsa police to a possible case of child abuse after a 6-year-old boy was found with extensive bruising.

The boy told the school employee he had gotten into trouble over the weekend for having an accident on himself. He was taken to the Children's Advocacy Center where a pediatric doctor found extensive bruising to his chest, forearms, legs and buttocks, according to an arrest report.

The child told authorities his father and step mother hit him with a belt and a shoe and made him do military squats.

Police say they questioned 32-year-old Bryan Jay Shenefield and 37-year-old Martha Ellen Shenefield. According to court records, the father admitted to beating the boy and said he got so angry while hitting him with a shoe, he had to leave the house.

Bryan Shenefield asked his wife to continue beating the boy when he left the house, and she admitted to continuing the beating, officers said.

"The injuries were extremely severe," the arrest report states. The doctor said the dark bruising and loop marks were consistent with being struck by a belt, records show.

The boy and his three siblings were taken into DHS custody, and the Shenefields were each booked on one complaint of felony child abuse by injury.