Post Falls man sentenced for smacking child, making him wear sign

An Idaho man who struck a 5-year-old boy and photographed him naked with a sign covering his genitals has been sentenced to 50 days in jail and two years of probation.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reported 24-year-old John Pearson of Post Falls was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to battery and injury to a child.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said school employees notified them in September that the boy had bruises on his face.

Detectives say Pearson, who was the boyfriend of the boy’s mother, admitted hitting the boy and alleged that the child had touched his fully clothed younger sister inappropriately.

Pearson said he then made the child remove his clothes and wear a sign that said, “I like touching my little sister,” which he photographed and sent to the boy’s parents in Idaho and Washington.