Texarkana man guilty of felony abuse of Cass County child

Barry Dewayne Abney of Texarkana pleaded guilty to the third-degree felony offense of injury to a child and was sentenced on August 12.

According to the Assistant District Attorney of Cass County, “Abney physically assaulted a young female relative by striking her repeatedly with a belt. The beating was so severe that she was left with deep bruises from her middle back to the back of her thighs. When the child’s parents discovered the bruises, she was taken to the hospital and evaluated by doctors. The doctors’ findings concluded that the beating far exceeded anything that would be considered reasonable discipline.”

On May 26, 2023, Dewayne Abney was arrested for felony child abuse. On November 20, 2023, a Cass County grand jury indicted him on felony Third-degree injury to a child charges. On August 12, 2024, he pled guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to 10 years’ probation, he cannot be alone with a child under the age of 16, complete anger management classes, and serve 30 days in jail.

According to the family of the victim Abney lived in Cass County at the time of the arrest and is now in divorce proceedings. They also note that many in the community knew him as a pastor but is not currently serving in that capacity.