Man Jailed for Child Abuse Walks Away from Workhouse

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minneapolis man, who sentenced to 180 days in jail for beating his girlfriend’s 10-year-old son and turning on the oven the child hid in, didn’t return to the workhouse on Wednesday.

William Hurley, 23, left for his first day of classes and never returned to the workhouse.

He was found guilty in June of malicious punishment of a child.
According to criminal complaint, Hurley burned the boy with an iron, hit him and whipped him with an extension cord. The boy eventually hid in the oven to from any further beating.

Hurley admitted to whipping the 10-year-old with a video game cord but said he never touched the oven controls to turn the heat on. For that, he's blamed the child's mother.

The boy’s mother, Debra Chatman, pleaded guilty in June to child endangerment after bringing the boy back into the apartment. She will be sentenced in August.