Man denies hot-sauce punishment
shawnbellowsonline.jpg Shawn Bellows is accused of disciplining his girlfriend's son by pouring hot sauce down his throat. Bellows has denied the charges of assault and assault with a weapon. His trial ended on Tuesday, July 28 in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops. On Aug. 5 a date will be set for a decision to be handed down by Justice Erik Verhoeven
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Updated: July 29, 2009 1:53 PM
By Tim Petruk
Black Press
The mere mention of the first name of a Kamloops man accused of beating his girlfriend's young son with a spoon and forcing hot sauce down his throat as punishment was enough to send the boy into terror, a judge has heard.
Shawn Bellows is facing assault and assault with a weapon charges relating to the alleged incidents.
The 32-year-old has denied the allegations.
The young boy's grandmother, who has had custody of him for more than a year, said in court the child becomes frightened at hearing the name "Shawn."
Testifying at Bellows' trial on Tuesday, the grandmother described an incident that occurred when she took the young boy camping last summer, less than a month after she had taken him into her home.
The grandmother said she and the boy were walking back to their campsite when the child asked her who owned a certain truck.
"I said, 'It's Shawn's truck,'" she testified, explaining she was referring not to Bellows, but to another man named Shawn.
"He stopped walking, he grabbed my hands and his eyes got really big," she said of the boy's reaction.
The grandmother said she then told the boy the truck belonged to a female Shawn, not the boyfriend of his mother.
"Then he just looked up at me then he smiled and we kept walking back to the camper," she said.
Taking the stand in his own defence, Bellows denied ever hitting the boy with a spoon or forcing hot sauce down his throat as a form of punishment.
He claimed his girlfriend was responsible for disciplining her son, while he was in charge of punishing his own daughters when they stepped out of line.
Evidence wrapped up Tuesday in Bellows' trial, which began last month and was adjourned four weeks.
Earlier in the trial, Bellows' two daughters, ages 12 and five, testified they saw their father spank his girlfriend's young son with a spoon and force hot sauce down his throat.
Bellows and his girlfriend are both from Hope, as is the woman's young son.
The mother of the boy moved with her son from Hope to Kamloops to live with Bellows in April 2008, four months after the two began a relationship.
Court has heard Bellows' two daughters stay with their father every other weekend.
The young boy was placed into foster care following the alleged incidents, before being taken in by his grandmother. His mother chose to remain with Bellows in Kamloops.
The trial, in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops, concluded Tuesday. Bellows will return to court Aug. 4 to fix a date for a decision.
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