A Tale of Child Abuse

This is about two abusive adults: Jesse Pacheco and Jessica Arrowood both 27 years old of Harmony Drive in Greenwood, Ind. But then again it is not really about them, it is about the terror and brutality that they inflicted upon two innocent children: 4-year-old Alea and 5-year-old Raymond Arrowood. Raymond was beaten unconscious almost to the point of death. Alea was choked until turning blue and then violently thrown across a room.

The reason why these kids were so viciously manhandled may surprise you. It was nothing that the kids did themselves. It was because when the adults were angry with each other they took out their frustrations on the kids.

"When (Pacheco) was mad at (Jessica Arrowood), he would beat the one child," Prosecutor Brad Cooper said. "When she was mad at him, she would beat the other."

Jesse Pacheco was charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person younger than 14. He remains in the Johnson County jail with a $60,000 bond. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Jessica Arrowood was charged with battery resulting in bodily injury, neglect of a dependent and two counts of strangulation. Her bail was set at $15,000. She faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

It all began when Pacheco was at home with Arrowood's four kids while she was at work. He told the kids to go and play at a nearby park so that he could have the house to himself. When 4-year-old Raymond said he didn't want to go, Pacheco became enraged.

He picked the boy up by his throat and began to slam him several times into a carpeted floor without any padding beneath. While he was slamming the boy into the floor, Raymond was crying  "Stop, Stop, Stop." Pacheco, however, did not stop until the boy was unconscious. According to authorities, Pacheco left the boy to vomit and urinate on himself for several hours.

When Arrowood returned home she took her unconscious son to Community Hospital South and he was immediately airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. It was from there that the authorities called the Indiana Department of Child Services and Greenwood police.

Pacheco tried to cover up what he did by telling the other children to lie for him. He told them: "...if the cops come, tell them we were just playing around." The kids did no such thing.

Chief Joe Pitcher of the Greenwood Police Department said the children actually helped crack the case. "They're the ones who said the boyfriend told them to lie and said if he went to jail, they would loose their Xbox and toys," said Pitcher.

Raymond remains in a coma. He suffered numerous injuries, including a blood clot on his brain, bruising to the left ear, a forehead abrasion and a bite mark on his stomach, according to court documents. Doctors performed surgery to relieve swelling on Raymond's brain but those close to his family say the child's prognosis remains grim.

Pacheco has admitted he's responsible for the boy's injuries. "I'm sorry for everything. I was stressed out. Me and Jessica were going through a lot," said Pacheco.

While investigating Jesse Pacheco, the police discovered that there was a lot more abuse going on in the household. Under questioning, Arrowood, who is pregnant with Pacheco's child, admitted to police that she snatched up her daughter by her hair about a year ago with so much force that the girl's feet were raised off of the ground during an argument with Pacheco.


Pacheco's cousin told police that he witnessed Arrowood last year pick her daughter up by the hair off the couch with one hand and squeeze her throat with the other hand until the child turned blue.

Alea Arrowood told police that Jessica Arrowood had choked her the day before Raymond Arrowood was airlifted to the hospital and that Jessica Arrowood had picked her up by the hair at least five times. On several occasions, the children also were forced to stand against a wall for up to an hour at a time for punishment for urinating the bed.

Jessica Arrowood was arrested on abuse, neglect and strangulation charges. Raymond Arrowood, Alea Arrowood and two other children have been removed from the home and placed in foster care.

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