Travis Ray Osbun

SYRACUSE — A Syracuse man faces charges following an incident in which he allegedly choked a child.

Travis Ray Osbun, 41, 207 E. Pittsburgh St., Syracuse, is charged with battery to a person less than 14 years of age by a person at least 18 years of age, a level 6 felony. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Oct. 25, a law enforcement officer with the Syracuse Police Department was dispatched to a residence in reference to a fight.

The officer spoke with a woman who said Osbun was inside the residence, intoxicated and throwing items around the house.

When the officer went inside the home, he found another woman screaming at Osbun about battering a child. The woman said Osbun grabbed the child by the neck and arm while standing in the living room.

The officer spoke with Osbun, who said the child had riled up his sister, also a minor, and said he and the child had been playing. Osbun said he did hold the child firmly on the bed and threatened to beat him if he did not calm down. 

Osbun admitted drinking pint of Jim Beam that evening. 

The officer then interviewed the child about what happened. The child said he did not know what he did wrong but said Osbun grabbed him by his neck and began choking him. The child said he told Osbun he was choking him and that Osbun’s response was, “You want to see what choking is?” The child said Osbun then picked him up off the couch again, grabbing him by his neck and wrist and took him into the bedroom where he threatened him.

The woman who had been screaming at Osbun when police arrived confirmed everything the child described in his account of the situation. 

Osbun was booked at the Kosciusko County Jail Oct. 25 on a $6,000 surety and cash bond.