A Wellman man was recently given a deferred judgment on a felony case.
Court documents show that through a plea agreement 31-year-old James Zane Bates was found guilty of a lesser offense of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor, and domestic abuse assault first offense, a simple misdemeanor. Bates is to be placed on one year of probation for each count, he must pay $960 in civil penalties, pecuniary damages, and Category B restitution. A charge of obstruction of emergency communications, a simple misdemeanor, was dismissed with costs to the defendant.
Bates was originally charged with a class D felony and a serious misdemeanor for the child endangerment and domestic abuse offenses. On February 20th at about 6:55 p.m. the Washington County Sheriff’s Office was called to a Wellman residence for a domestic abuse situation. Law enforcement was advised by the victim that Bates had grabbed them by their face and had scratched them and scratched a minor on the left eye. During the struggle Bates took the victim’s phone preventing them from calling 911. The victim then went to a friend’s residence where they were able to call 911.