A Sallisaw man accused of beating his girlfriends’ children waived his right to a preliminary hearing Oct. 28 and a new district court date was scheduled for Dec. 17 in Sequoyah County District Court, Sallisaw.

Mark James Brannick, 25, was arrested on suspected child abuse Nov. 23, 2008.

According to the police report Detective Sandra Girdner met with Randi Jones, 24, of Sallisaw at the Sequoyah Memorial Hospital emergency room were Jones had taken her 3-year-old daughter.

Girdner reported Jones went to work around 9:40 p.m. Nov. 22, 2008, leaving her two small children home with Brannick and his friend. Jones did not return home until around about Nov. 23.

The report stated when Jones arrived home she went into her children’s bedroom to wake them up for church. When she rolled over her 3-year-old daughter she noticed there was bruising and bleeding on her face.

Jones also noticed that her daughter’s left leg was very swollen. Her child screamed in pain when her mother touched it the report stated. Further examination by Jones led to the discovery that there was bruising all over her child’s head, buttocks and back.

The results of the examination from the hospital showed the child’s femur bone on the left leg was broken and required surgery. She was transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa for treatment.

Further investigation by Girdner resulted in finding bruising on the lower back and both sides of the buttocks of Jones’ other child, a 4-year-old boy.