Logansport officer gets unpaid leave after leaving child out in cold

LOGANSPORT, Ind. – In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Logansport Board of Public Works and Safety Committee voted to place Logansport Police Officer Cody Scott on unpaid administrative leave.

Court records show Scott is charged with two counts of Neglect of a Dependent. Both are Level 6 Felonies.

Scott had been placed on paid administrative leave since the incident happened in January.

“Officer Scott was notified about the matter at his residence and since then he has turned himself in and his wife, I believe, has turned herself in as well. They have both bonded out and are awaiting a trial date,” said Logansport Police Chief Travis Yike at the meeting.

This all stems from when police said a child in Scott’s care was forced to stand outside in frigid temperatures with a sign that read, “I want to stab and kill my brother, I even take an antipsychotic. If you need to give pity, then give it to the victims.”

Scott’s wife, Kylie Scott, is also charged with two counts of Neglect of a Dependent.

FOX59/CBS4 has reached out multiple times to the Cass County court system and to the Special Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland to get a probable cause affidavit. However, it’s still unclear why those documents are not available despite the judge in the case stating they are no longer under seal.

Rebecca Gibbs, who reported the incident to police back in January, shared her thoughts on the incident.

“I am a mother myself. I felt it was sickening – disgust,” said Gibbs. “That’s what it was that somebody could do that to a child and to know that that’s a police officer who did that to a child, that’s even worse. It was horrible. I wouldn’t let my dog sit outside for an hour, let alone my child.”

And court documents show this may not have been the only incident like this.

Charging documents also indicate that Scott put one of his dependents in danger by making them hold demeaning signs at school and in public.

Court documents state that those signs were “so offensive in nature that it put in danger (the dependent’s) physical and mental health.”

Officials with the Logansport Board of Public Works and Safety Committee said once the criminal investigation is complete, the board will conduct an internal investigation about Scott’s future employment.

 Both Scott and his wife are due in court Thursday for their initial hearing at 1 p.m.