Felony Charge Added to Couple in Abuse Case

Prosecutors filed a felony charge Wednesday against a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant and a school principal who were charged last year with abusing their teenage son.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that sheriff’s Sgt. Grady Machnick beat and pushed his 14-year-old son and that Deborah Machnick made her stepson pose for nude photographs and smeared dog feces on his backpack.

The couple was to stand trial Monday on a misdemeanor charge, but prosecutors added the felony charge of conspiracy to commit child endangerment.

In court documents, prosecutors also accused the couple of forcing the boy to sleep on a mat outside their Yorba Linda house. Locked out, the boy had to use a restroom at a neighborhood park.