West Des Moines Woman Alleges Son Repeatedly Assaulted Her

Authorities provided a 56-year-old woman with counseling and domestic violence shelter information after her son allegedly assaulted her in what she characterized as an ongoing pattern of abuse.

When West Des Moines Police Officer Barry Graham arrived at the home the woman shares with her 25-year-old adult son on Jan. 13, the woman’s eye was red and swollen. She alleged her son head-butted her after she stepped on his foot to stop him from assaulting her.

The victim reportedly told Graham that her son had been acting strangely for the past couple of days and had “maybe four hours of sleep” from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.

The alleged assault occurred after her son began arguing with her after she reproached him for throwing pots and pans about the kitchen as he prepared to heat water. He reportedly demanded to know why she wasn’t heating the water for him.

“She told him he is a grown man and could do it for himself, he grabbed her arm and shoved it into her mouth, telling her, ‘You’re biting yourself. You need mental help,’ “ Graham wrote. “She said that she stepped on his right foot in self-defense and that is when he headbutted her.”

When questioned, the victim’s son reportedly said she has “mental issues and steals stuff, so I shouldn’t believe what she says,” Graham wrote.

However, his mother said her son, who she said takes medication for depression and anxiety, has assaulted her in the past, the last time around Christmas, when her daughter found her brother on top of their mother on the kitchen floor, where he was assaulting her, according to the report.