Child abuse case against former officer dismissed

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | 11:18 a.m.

A former Metro Police officer, who was fired after allegations surfaced that he burned his 13-year-old son with a hot iron, had his case dismissed on Tuesday.

District Judge John McGroarty granted a request by prosecutors and dismissed charges of child abuse and neglect.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe said the charges were dropped after Vincent D'Angelo's son recanted his claim that his father intentionally burned him with an iron.

Monroe said the child recanted his story shortly after Family Court reinstated D'Angelo's visitation rights and the two began spending weekends together. The prosecutor added the child's therapist said the case would "do more harm than good" for D'Angelo's son.

Monroe said the boy's mother had been fully cooperative throughout the case and agreed with the decision to have the charges dismissed.

The charges D'Angelo formerly faced stem from an incident Oct. 2, 2003, when the teen went to school -- a private middle school where he was a seventh grader -- with two black eyes and an iron-shaped burn mark on one arm, according to the transcript of the grand jury proceedings in December 2003 and January 2004.

The steam holes in the bottom of the iron left a clear imprint, according to testimony. The boy originally testified that his father told him to iron his shirt for school, but then became enraged when he learned the teen had put the iron back in its drawer while still hot.

The boy also said D'Angelo then slapped him hard across the face about 15 times.

D'Angelo had been an officer for six years with Metro's Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., unit, which tours schools teaching children how to say no to narcotics.

After a police internal investigation and hearing, D'Angelo was fired from the force last month, according to Metro Labor Relations Director Mike Snyder. D'Angelo had been suspended without pay since the indictment was handed down in January

D'Angelo told the grand jury the abuse allegation was a product of the custody battle. The boy had spent alternate weeks with each parent since the age of 3.

Monroe said the decision to dismiss D'Angelo's charges had absolutely nothing to do with the custody battle.

She said it was her understanding that D'Angelo was in the process of trying to get his job back.

D'Angelo's attorneys did not return phone calls Monday.