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BEDFORD – A Lawrence County Superior Court I jury Tuesday afternoon found Scott Blattert, of Springville, guilty on five counts of domestic battery and one count of strangulation.
The jury deliberated for more than 4 hours.
Judge John Plummer III presided over the trial.
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In an explicit video, Blattert is seen smacking his second oldest daughter, who was 14 at the time, with a belt 27 times, slamming her face down into the couch cushion, telling her “You are a rebellious, wicked animal” and then slamming his elbow into the back of the child’s neck, hitting her and then pushing her to the floor and strangling her.
In the video, Cherry Blattert, Scott’s wife, is seen walking around the room. She makes the statement “Oh my goodness and is then seen ushering the two youngest children from the room. Cherry does not attempt to stop Scott from injuring the child.
Blattert’s charges and the jury’s verdicts are listed below.
- Count 1: Aggravated Battery used when the assault possesses a substantial risk of death, a Level 3 felony – guilty. This charge stems from incidents seen in the video.
- Count 2: Strangulation, a Level 6 felony – guilty. This charge stems from incidents seen in the video
- Count 3: Domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony – guilty. This charge stems from an incident involving the oldest female child in which she was spanked with a belt.
- Count 4: Domestic Battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony – guilty. This charge stems from an incident involving the oldest female child being kicked in the leg by her father leaving a bruise that was photographed.
- Count 5: Domestic Battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony- guilty. This charge stems from an incident where the oldest female child was hit with a glue stick.
- Count 6: Domestic Battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under the age of 14, a Level 5 felony – guilty. This charge stems from the incident captured in the video.
- Count 7: Was dismissed because it would be double jeopardy if found guilty of Count 1.
- Count 8: Domestic Battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under the age of 14, a Level 5 felony – guilty. This charge stems from an incident in which a 10-year-old boy was hit by the belt just before the video incident.
- Count 9 – Domestic Battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under the age of 14, a Level 5 felony – not guilty. This charge stems from an incident where a 9-year-old female child was hit with a glue stick
- Count 10 – Domestic battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under the age of 14, a Level 5 felony – not guilty. This charge stems from a 3-year-old female getting smacked on the bottom, falling off a couch, and suffering an abrasion to her head.
After the verdicts were read, Scott Blattert was escorted from the court in handcuffs while his wife Cherry sobbed.
He will be sentenced on June 16, at 8:30 a.m.
Blattert was arrested, posted a $5,000 cash bond, and 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. The explicit video was filmed on September 23, 2019.
The two oldest daughters testified that the children’s punishments were becoming more violent.
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Cherry Blattert is also charged in the case. She is facing charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury and domestic battery. Her court date is pending.
Both Cherry and Scott are being represented by the same attorneys, Justin and John Boren, of Boren, Oliver & Coffey LLP in Bloomington.
Presenting the case for the state are Deputy Prosecutors Joshua Scherschel and Sarah Cummings.
The couple have 11 children. The children are all currently living with two foster families. One family has the couple’s five older children and another family has the couple’s six younger children. At the time of the incident, the couple only had 9 children. Cherry was pregnant with her 10th child and then she had another child later.
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. That court 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 violated their religious freedoms. Blattert’s case against DCS was dismissed on June 9, 2022, by Monroe Circuit Court IV Judge Catherine Stafford.