By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
A former Yukon resident has received a seven-year deferred sentence in a three-year-old child abuse case.
Bethany’s Andrew Thomas Hill, 40, pleaded no contest Sept. 22 to two counts of felony child abuse in Canadian County District Court.
Hill was charged in February 2020 for crimes reported in October 2019 at a home in the 9000 block of NW 85th in Yukon.
Oklahoma City Police investigated the incidents since they occurred in Oklahoma City limits.
Hill “willfully or maliciously” harmed an 11-year-old child “by slamming his head into the wall and lifting him by the throat” and a seven-year-old child “by squeezing his neck and choking him,” according to the charging document.
After numerous continuances in the court case, the defendant appeared Sept. 22 with attorney Angela Smith to formally enter the no contest plea.
District Judge Jack D. McCurdy II accepted Hill’s plea and deferred sentencing until Nov. 29, 2028. Hill’s signed no contest plea is dated Nov. 30, 2021.
Judge McCurdy ordered Hill to be supervised by the state Department of Corrections, complete probationary requirements and pay fines, victims compensation assessments, court costs, and jail fees.
Hill faced up to life in prison or one year in county jail and fines totaling up to $10,000 on the child abuse charges.
In April 2021, Hill waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The case originally was set for trial in October 2021 but was stricken from the docket.
The Canadian County Assistant District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
“State’s witness (…) would testify that defendant slapped him and held him up by his neck and squeezed his neck,” according to the prosecutor’s statement. “State’s witness (…) would testify that defendant hit him into the wall slamming his head into the wall and that defendant once picked him up by the throat.”
In the signed no contest plea, the defendant wrote, “I have seen the state’s evidence and been advised of my rights. I choose not to contest the charges against me.”
OKC POLICE INVESTIGATION
Oklahoma City Police Det. James Brown in October 2019 was assigned to investigate the case after a Department of Human Services (DHS) worker reported the abuse that occurred when Hill disciplined the children, according to court documents.
A probable cause affidavit, signed by Det. Brown, describes in detail what the alleged victims said during forensic interviews conducted in November 2019.
The defendant also reportedly called another child a profane word and had been locking the children outside.
The victims’ mother told the investigator she had never seen Hill place his hands around any child’s throat “other than just play wresting” – but not in a violent or aggressive manner.
