A Warsaw man will serve up to four years in prison for striking a 2-year-old girl with a belt. Devan Bounds, 24, of 2854 S. Country Club Drive, pleaded guilty to one count of battery of a child and one count of obstruction of justice in February. Even though he described the incident as a “terrible mistake,” he tried to convince the judge not to send him to prison. “I am not a criminal, I’m not a child abuser,” Bounds said. Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge David Cates sentenced Bounds Thursday. Bounds was sentenced to five years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with one year suspended with probation, on the battery charge. On the obstruction charge, he was sentenced to one year with one year suspended on probation. The sentences will run consecutively for a total of four years in prison and two years of probation. He will get 183 days credit for time served. “That wasn’t discipline. You beat this child,” Cates said. “I don’t see any reason I can show you mercy, when you didn’t show the child mercy.” Bounds was arrested Aug. 11 with his live-in girlfriend, Stephanie Mikel, after he spanked the girl with a belt for wetting her pants. The spanking was so forceful that it broke the girl’s skin. The injuries were discovered by a relative who was babysitting the toddler. Mikel initially took the blame for the child’s injuries, but later told a CPS worker she took the blame because she was scared of Bounds. During the hearing, Mikel appeared to be supportive of Bounds, holding his hand and sitting with him. After the arrest, Bounds was placed in jail on a $25,000 cash bond. After his guilty plea, he was given a bond reduction and he was able to be released from the jail. At some point, Bounds moved back in Mikel. In February, police charged Mikel with felony charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, assisting a criminal and misdemeanor charges of false informing and failure to report child abuse in connection with the incident. Mikel is currently out of bond awaiting further court preceedings.
