By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

VINCENT – A 58-year-old Vincent woman and a 36-year-old Vincent man are facing felony child abuse charges after they were arrested and charged with allegedly striking an underage victim “multiple times with a belt.”

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office arrested Evelyn and Germania Hale, who both list addresses on Alabama 25 in Vincent, on Oct. 26, and charged each suspect with one felony count of willful abuse of a child younger than 18.

The charge is a Class C felony, according to Alabama law, and carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.

The suspects’ arrests came after the Shelby County Department of Human Resources investigated a report about a Sept. 17 incident involving the two suspects and a juvenile victim.

After investigating the event, DHR turned the case over to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. After Sheriff’s Office investigators interviewed the victim and the two suspects, they obtained warrants for the suspects’ arrest, said SCSO deputy Debbie Sumrall.

According to the suspects’ warrants, Germania Hale allegedly “struck (the victim) multiple times with a belt,” and Evelyn Hale allegedly “allowed (the victim) to be struck multiple times with a belt.”

“With the information obtained in those interviews, we were able to obtain warrants for their arrest,” Sumrall said during an Oct. 30 interview. “What we found in the interviews rose to the level of willful child abuse. The child was injured and both (suspects) were involved.”

According to Alabama law, a person commits willful abuse of a child younger than 18 when they “torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat, or otherwise willfully maltreat any child under the age of 18 years.”

Germania Hale was released from the Shelby Count Jail the same day he was arrested after posting a $10,000 bond. Evelyn Hale was released from jail on Oct. 27 after also posting a $10,000 bond.

Evelyn Hale is set to appear in Shelby County District Court on Dec. 2 for a preliminary hearing. Germania Hale is set to appear in court on Nov. 5 for a preliminary hearing.