Police: Ohio Man Arrested after Beating Boy at Hotel Pool in Newport

A 61-year-old Ohio man is facing felony charges of second-degree child abuse and failing to register as a sex offender after he allegedly struck and dragged a boy in the pool area at the Wyndham hotel on Washington Street on Monday.

Police said Kenneth Cigany, of Solon, Ohio, allegedly assaulted the boy after the child refused to get out of the pool.

The incident occurred in front of several witnesses who told police that Cigany dragged the boy out of the pool by the neck and shoulder area and struck him in the face and torso area.

Police said Cigany is related to the boy, who suffered minor bruises from the alleged assault and did not need medical attention.

Cigany told police that he was left to care for the child while the boy’s mother left the pool area to go to their hotel room. When the boy refused to get out of the pool, he told police that he pulled the boy from the water but his body was slippery and he “grabbed him by whatever he could hold onto which was around his neck and shoulder area,” according to a police report.

Multiple witnesses said Cigany struck the boy multiple times. Police were contacted by a Wyndham employee after guests at the hotel expressed concern for the boy’s welfare.

A check of Cigany’s information showed that he is a registered sex offender, police said, and was convicted of gross sexual imposition in Ohio. There was no record of Cigany contacting Newport police to notify them he’d be in the city, a police report stated, which led to the additional charge of failing to register as a sex offender.