BEDFORD – A jury will begin hearing testimony this afternoon in Lawrence County Superior Court I with Judge John Plummer III presiding in the case of Scott Blattert.
Blattert, of Springville, is facing felony charges of strangulation, aggravated battery, and domestic battery causing injury to a person under 14, He is accused of punching, elbowing, and strangling his children as a form of punishment.
One child told police that their father would often strike them with industrial glue sticks to punish them because the glue sticks would cause them a great deal of pain, without leaving marks or bruises behind.
In November 2019, Indiana State Police began their investigation after the Indiana Department of Child Service requested their assistance. Investigators were shown a videotape of Blattert hitting one of his girls with a belt approximately 25 times. That video was just one of the pieces of evidence obtained by investigators.
According to the affidavit, the video also shows Scott Blattert punching the child in the face and pushing her to the ground. He then elbow strikes the back of the child’s head. Two toddlers can be seen entering the room and his wife Cherry enters to try and remove them. The incident is believed to have taken place in September 2019.
Following Scott Blattert’s arrest, the eldest child, who was 15 at the time, was interviewed at a child advocacy center in Bloomington. She told investigators her parents discipline the children with industrial-grade glue sticks. The sticks were hidden on top of the fireplace mantle and when the family expected a visit from the Department of Child Services, the glue sticks were hidden in her parent’s bedroom. The child told police, her parents determined after experimenting with wooden spoons and dowel rods that glue sticks caused the most pain and left the least amount of markings.
According to investigators, the children were homeschooled, and Cherry handles the discipline of “minor accidents or behavior issues” by striking the children with glue sticks. Cherry keeps a list of the issues and gives it to Scott when he gets home from work, and Scott then hits the children with the glue sticks or a belt, the affidavit said.
Scott slammed the children against the wall because they were not behaving during “Cherry’s religious speech,” and he choked one of the children until she couldn’t breathe, the affidavit detailed.
Cherry reportedly would photograph the children’s injuries and markings with a camera she kept in the couple’s bedroom, where the children were not allowed to go, according to the affidavit. The only phone in the home was in the bedroom, as well.
The affidavit said the couple warned the children not to speak with DCS about the abuse “because it will ruin the whole family.” During one DCS visit, one of the children told the investigator “a little too much information” and Scott got his belt to “deal with it,” and he struck two of the children repeatedly as he yelled that they were going to “ruin the whole family,” the affidavit said. One child kept a diary of the abuse and hid it inside her mattress, the affidavit said.
Blattert was arrested and posted a $5,000 cash bond and was released from jail on November 8, 2019. A no-contact order with his children was issued by Lawrence County Superior Court I Judge John Plummer III.
Blattert previously attempted to use Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a defense in this case, arguing that physical punishment of children is outlined in the Bible in references to the Rod of Correction. This defense was struck down by Lawrence County Superior Court I Judge John Plummer III, a decision which Blattert appealed in the Indiana Court of Appeals, but was ultimately upheld, affirming Judge Plummer’s decision.
Blattert and his wife, Cherry, also filed a lawsuit against Indiana DCS, claiming the department’s decision to remove their 10 children from their home was a violation of their religious freedoms. Blattert’s case against DCS was dismissed on June 9, 2022, by Monroe Circuit Court IV Judge Catherine Stafford.
No trial date as been set for Cherry Blattert who was also arrested during the investigation.
