Man arrested for injury to child

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Wichita County Sheriff’s Office arrested George Ransom, 50, on Aug. 22 for injury to a child in relation to an Aug. 17 call that WFPD responded to.

According to the affidavit, on Aug. 17, 2023, the Wichita Falls Police Department was contacted by a Kirby Middle School resource officer for a possible injury to a Kirby student.

The student, an 11-year-old boy, had approached another WFISD employee early that morning, who noted he was bleeding heavily from his face. The WFISD employee observed that the victim had a swollen lip and a bleeding nose, according to the affidavit.

When she asked how he became injured, the victim responded that his guardian had grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed his face into the back door of their house.

Officers who conducted a follow-up investigation noted swelling to the right side of the child’s upper lip, bruising under his nose, and inside his upper lip. They referred him to Patsy’s House Children’s Advocacy Center for a forensic interview.

The child was reluctant to speak to the interviewer at Patsy’s House and said he injured his face when he tripped and hit his head on the concrete in front of his house.

Police again contacted the WFISD employee who first attended to the student, who told them the boy ran up to her, crying uncontrollably. She cleaned up his face and asked what happened, to which he responded that he just wanted to get a jacket out of the house and that this seemingly enraged his guardian.

Officers contacted George Ransom via telephone, who agreed to meet with them for an interview. During his interview, he said the child was “moping” that morning and would miss the school bus for the second day. Ransom said once the boy left the house, he began walking behind the residence instead of toward the bus stop.

He told police the boy said he wanted to retrieve a jacket from inside the house, so Ransom and the child hurried around the back toward the child’s bedroom. While walking to the backyard, Ransom said he “guided” the child by applying pressure between his shoulder blades, “kinda like pushing him.”

At one point, Ransom told police the child stumbled on the porch steps, causing him to hit his face on the back door. Later in the interview, he admitted that the boy did not slip. Instead, Ransom caused the boy to hit his head on the back door when he “guided the victim a little too forcefully” and unintentionally pushed him.