Man Accused of Beating Child for Opening Christmas Present Early

Wesley McCollum of Okmulgee, Oklahoma man allegedly beat his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son for opening a Christmas present early. He’s now spending Christmas behind bars.

The child’s mother, Bridgette Payne, told KJRH that her boyfriend was watching her children while she was shopping for Christmas gifts on Dec. 16.

When she got home, she was horrified to see bruises on her son’s arms and back, as well as whelps on his forehead. She said it looked like there was a hand print on the boy’s cheek.

“Words cannot explain seeing your baby like this and having no clue what happened,” the mother wrote on Facebook. “I ran to him like any mother would do crying, hugging him, begging what happened. ‘Wesley hurt me bad mama,’ is all he kept saying.”

The woman told KJRH that McCollum told her he wanted to teach the child a lesson after he took a present out from under their Christmas tree and opened it.

Police arrived at the home that night, and the child was taken to the hospital. McCollum was arrested for child abuse and neglect. The district attorney will decide to file charges.

In the meantime, Payne filed for a protective order against McCollum on Dec. 18.

Payne said this was the first time she saw McCollum angry and never thought he would have done something like this to her children. “I would of never been with him. Plain and simple,” she wrote on Facebook.

Photo credit: KJRH