UPDATE 11/11 — A jury trial date has been set for May 2023 for a Lebanon man accused of causing burn injuries to a 13-year-old boy and pepper-spraying a 16-year-old and 12-year-old girl.

Timothy Neil Easton is to stand trial beginning May 9, 2023, in Laclede County Circuit Court, according to online court records. A pre-trial conference is set for Feb. 21, 2023.

Original story:

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. — Timothy N. Easton, 50, of Lebanon, was arrested after Laclede County deputies responded to a report that Easton had burned a 13-year-old boy and pepper-sprayed a 16-year-old and 12-year-old girl.

According to an LCSO press release, the boy was admitted to a hospital on Aug. 24 with burns on 10-19% of his body, on his chest and thigh areas. Investigators were told that Easton put the boy in a “ring of fire” that he started with gasoline and then ordered the child to leave the ring. Easton then kicked a can of gasoline at the child and made “sparks” with a lighter that led to the child’s shirt catching fire.

The sheriff wrote in the press release that the mother of the children was threatened and kept from taking the children to a hospital for two weeks.

Easton is charged with one count of 1st-degree assault and three counts of child abuse. He is being held in the Laclede County Jail without bond.