A Pottstown man has been sent to prison for child abuse

NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man will spend up to ten years behind bars for allegedly abusing his then-girlfriend’s 19-month-old son while the child was in his care in February 2021.

Gerren Lee Faulks, 35, of the block of Prince Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County District Court to 4 1/2 to 10 years in the state penitentiary on charges of aggravated battery of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and simple battery in connection with the incident on Feb. 10, 2021, while the child was in Faulks’ care at a home in the 400 block of Elm Street in Pottstown.

Judge Stephen T. O’Neill ordered Faulks to have no contact with the victim.

A jury found Faulks guilty in a three-day trial in August.

Faulks did not testify during the trial, but after the verdict, Faulks expressed disbelief and said prosecution witnesses had lied during the trial.

The case was handled by assistant prosecutor Catherine Kopetsky. Faulks was represented by Len’s attorney Philip Thomas.

According to a criminal complaint filed by former Pottstown detective Heather Long, who is now a county detective, the child suffered bruising to her forehead, neck and ear.

A doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who examined the boy wrote in a report that “bruises on the ears have a high specificity for abuse” and that injuries to multiple areas of the head make “one chance occurrence unlikely.” The doctor added that the “absence of history of accidental injuries and multiple injuries” located on various parts of the body indicated that the victim “suffered injuries from physical abuse.”

The investigation began around 9:30 p.m. on February 10, 2021, when Pottstown Police were dispatched to Pottstown Hospital for a report of child abuse involving a 19-month-old boy.

Investigators spoke with the child’s mother, who said she had left the child in Faulks’ care at her home about 20 minutes earlier that evening.

“Foulkes was the sole custodian of the victim at the time,” Long argued.

When the victim’s mother returned home with a friend, she found Faulks outside the home and the child inside alone and unattended, according to court documents. When the woman entered the residence, she found her son in a “bouncy chair” shaking, crying and “gasping,” Long alleged.

“It was at this time that they noticed injuries to the victim’s head, including a bump on the forehead, bruising to the forehead and bruising to the back of the head. There was also blood on his shirt that appeared to be coming from his mouth,” Long claimed.

The child was initially taken to Pottstown Hospital, but was later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where a CHOP child welfare team member examined the child and completed a report on his injuries.

According to court records, Fowlkes was convicted back in 2010 of simple assault, during which he was ordered to undergo anger management counseling, possession of a small amount of marijuana and intimidating a witness who reported his illegal drug activity.