Boyfriend Accused Of Seriously Battering Kids; Mother Charged For Not Reporting

Doctors told police the two- and three-year-old victims suffered serious bruising and spine fractures in a horrific abuse case out of Greendale.

Roger M. Dozier. Photo by Dearborn County Sheriff's Office.

(Greendale, Ind.) - Greendale Police accuse a man of battering his girlfriend’s two young children, and the mother is accused of failing to help her children avoid further abuse.

Roger M. Dozier, 29, is accused of two counts of Battery on a Person Less than 17 Years of Age Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (level 3 felony), two counts of Battery on a Person Less than 17 Years of Age Resulting in Bodily Injury (level 5 felony), two counts of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (level 3 felony) and two counts of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Bodily Injury (level 5 felony).

His girlfriend, Jessica A. Lee, 24, is charged with two counts of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Bodily Injury (level 5 felony).

According to a court affidavit, Greendale Police responded to Lee’s apartment on Ludlow Street on April 29 to investigate a report of a four-year-old male being battered by a man. The report had been made by a woman who walked into the police department, located almost immediately next door to the apartment. 

It didn’t take long for the alleged child abuse to be apparent to officers. When they arrived, they found a three-year-old boy with severe bruising on numerous areas of his body. A large amount of hair had been pulled from his head.

Another child, age 2, had bruising around his neck, ear, and upper torso.

“(The child) advised that Daddy hurt him,” officers wrote in the affidavit, adding that Lee told them that they referred to Dozier as Daddy.

Both children were taken to Highpoint Health for treatment. One nurse would call the children’s injuries the worst beating she had seen on a child in 12 years on the job.

Doctors advised of the injuries, which were found to include fractures of each child’s spine. One of the children was also deemed to have suffered a possible fracture of their foot.

Police interviewed Lee. She allegedly told officers she had left her children with Dozier at home for a couple hours the evening of April 28. She did not notice the injuries because their room was dark when she returned late in the evening. The next morning, she discovered the bruising on both children, Lee told officers.

“When asked why she did not call the police or leave the children with her mother to come to police herself, Lee advised she was scared and didn’t know what to do,” the affidavit states.

Officers also interviewed Lee’s mother. She said Jessica had come over that morning asking to borrow her cell phone. However, she did not mention anything about her children’s injuries. Lee’s mother told police she doesn’t believe her daughter had any intention of calling the police on Dozier and was attempting to cover for him.

Dozier was arrested on May 9, the day charges were formally filed against he and Lee. A Dearborn County judge has ordered him held on bond of $25,000 cash and $500,000 surety. Dozier has also been ordered to have no contact with the children.

A jury trial is scheduled for October 21.

There is no record of Lee’s arrest in Dearborn County. A warrant was issued May 10.

Dozier was additionally charged with Auto Theft (level 6 felony) in Dearborn County on May 2. He had allegedly stolen Lee’s vehicle from Highpoint Health as the children were being evaluated by doctors and she accused him of beating them.