An Augusta woman has been arrested and charged after allegedly beating her two young children — one with a dog leash and the other with a heavy silicone spoon, according to authorities.
Megan Ivey Moloney, 29, faces two counts of first-degree cruelty to children following an incident last Tuesday at the family’s apartment on Skinner Mill Road. Arrest warrants state that Moloney struck her 7-year-old son multiple times with a dog leash, leaving large bruises and visible redness on his torso. Around the same time, she allegedly beat her 5-year-old daughter with a large black silicone spoon, causing bruising on the girl’s left shoulder and both legs.
Both children were hospitalized at Doctors Hospital for treatment of their injuries.
As the investigation unfolded, deputies located Moloney on Saturday driving a GMC Yukon with 29-year-old Alexander Curtice in the passenger seat. The vehicle was stopped outside Logan’s Roadhouse on Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway. Inside, authorities found a small amount of cocaine near a child seat, a marijuana pipe, and a 9mm handgun.
A subsequent search of Curtice’s 2011 Toyota Corolla turned up 50 grams of marijuana in two separate jars as well as a firearm inside a backpack.
Curtice did not comply with deputies during his arrest. According to reports, he became verbally aggressive, shouting profanities, resisting physical restraint, and attempting to flee on foot. When deputies tried to place him in the rear of a patrol vehicle, he allegedly elbowed a female deputy in the chest, damaging her body-worn camera and yelling, “Get the f**k off, you b***h!”
Deputies were eventually able to subdue Curtice using “hard techniques,” but one officer sustained abrasions and lacerations on his right arm and leg during the struggle.
Moloney and Curtice were both charged with possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm, and possession and use of drug-related objects. Curtice faces additional charges, including felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The arrest stands in stark contrast to social media images from just a year ago, showing Moloney on a cheerful pirate-themed vacation with her husband and two smiling children, a boy and a younger girl.
