By Jim Smith

Butler Eagle Staff Writer

A Lyndora couple is accused of injecting a young boy with a syringe of water.

The boy told authorities he was given the shot in December, when he was 5 years old, as a form of punishment.

The suspects — 59-year-old Charles J. Brown and his 39-year-old girlfriend Julie Ann Grapes, the boy’s mother — admitted they injected the child with warm water, Butler Township police said.

But they said the boy wanted the shot while at their Hansen Avenue apartment, apparently to know what it felt like. He was not injured.

Police on Wednesday charged both defendants with child endangerment, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and simple assault. Brown also is charged with terroristic threats.

The charges were sent by summons, and the suspects’ preliminary hearings were not immediately scheduled.

Police Detective Sgt. David Fish began his investigation Dec. 14 after the boy’s foster parent contacted authorities about the allegations. The child told his foster parent that Brown on Dec. 7 had given him “a shot,” court documents said.

The boy, now 6, is currently in foster care. Fish on Thursday said it was unclear why the child was in foster care in December.

Brown filled the needle with water and injected it into his shoulder, the boy recounted.

He said Brown “gave it to him because he touched one of Charlie’s needles,” according to a police affidavit.

Fish said Brown’s medical condition requires the use of syringes at home.

During a subsequent interview with a Butler County Children and Youth Services caseworker, police said, the boy gave a similar account as he did to his foster parent.

He also said Grapes filled up with the needle with water before Brown injected him.

Detective Fish last week interviewed both defendants separately.

However, the couple said it was the boy’s wish to get a shot.

They claimed he “went into a tantrum” until he was given the injection, documents said.

And according to Grapes, it happened in the summer of 2013, Fish said.

She allegedly admitted putting 3cc of warm tap water into the syringe.

She described the needle as clean and related that she and Brown used an alcohol swab on the boy’s left arm before the was injected.

Fish said Brown largely corroborated his girlfriend’s account. One exception was that he said he filled the syringe with water.

He also did not provide authorities with a time frame on when it happened.

Fish on Tuesday, as part of his investigation, questioned a pediatrician affiliated with Butler Memorial Hospital about the potential health risks of a water injection.

The short-term effect, the physician said, could be a skin bacterial infection.

He noted if the syringe and needle were used, the long-term risk could be Hepatitis or HIV.

During their interviews, Brown and Grapes offered contrition for their actions.

“They both gave statements of remorse,” Fish said.

The defendants could not be reached for comment and it was not known if either has an attorney.