Jul 11, 2013 3 min read

A North Strabane Township man charged with chaining a child to a kitchen table came to Washington County Court Thursday morning asking that his bond be lowered. But instead, the man’s bond was revoked.

Joshua Lee Smith, 38, told Judge John DiSalle he has spent 62 days in the county jail, and his attorney, Brian Gorman, argued that the charge dealt with a one-time incident, not a course of conduct. Smith offered to stay away from his girlfriend or girlfriend’s children as a condition of his bond, and gave the judge a letter from a Children and Youth Services caseworker who said he did not pose a danger.

“Part of that might be that you’re incarcerated,” the judge replied. “CYS can’t clear you of these charges.”

In May, Smith’s bond was set at $25,000, and Gorman argued that $10,000 would be sufficient.

Smith said he is also dealing with divorce and custody issues. Smith said District Judge Jay Weller had lowered an endangerment count from a felony to a first-degree misdemeanor.

The defendant said his only previous run-in with the law was a marijuana incident 20 years ago in Florida, but in addition to child endangerment and related charges in North Strabane, DiSalle noted South Strabane Township police had just charged Smith with retail theft.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Fagella argued against a bond reduction because of the allegation of violence and asked that Smith’s bond be revoked. Smith admitted, “I’ve made some bad decisions,” and Fagella asked for a transcript so this statement could be introduced at Smith’s trial.

Police went to the home of Smith and Lori Seman May 20 because of a domestic dispute. The officer saw her 11-year-old son sitting at the dinner table with a plate of food in front of him and a chain attached to the boy’s right leg. The other end of the chain was nailed to the stairs leading to the basement.

The boy told police he did not want to eat the food on his plate and Smith became angry. He said Smith made him go outside and get one of the dog chains that had been in the yard. Smith then allegedly nailed one end of the chain to the stairs and attached the other end to the boy’s leg.

The boy said he became sick and vomited some of the food. Smith reportedly told the boy he was not moving until he ate everything on his plate.

A police officer had to use wire cutters to free the boy’s leg from the chain and he had abrasions on his leg.