Deputies: Woman starved, strangled 12-year-old boy

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Police have arrested a Gainesville woman for the alleged violent abuse of a 12-year-old boy.

Hall County deputies say an investigation showed 35-year-old Katie Lynn LeVake had struck the unidentified boy with a cell phone charger, causing him to have "severe bruises and lacerations." Officials say LeVake also strangled the boy, causing him to not be able to breathe.

LeVake also withheld food from the preteen, leaving him in a room and calling him an "inmate," officials said.

The investigation started in November of 2018, after a Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) referral. All the alleged abuse happened in the three months before the investigation started.

After obtaining a warrant, deputies arrested LeVake at her home on the 3000 block of Poplar Springs.

She is now in the Hall County Jail without bond after being charged with two counts of first-degree cruelty to children.