Local Washington County Man Pleads Guilty After UTV Crash Leaves Child Injured
A devastating UTV crash in the Lansing Avenue North area left a young boy seriously injured when his father, Samuel Kelley, 56, allowed his 6-year-old son to operate an ATV with two other children on board. The vehicle rolled over, pinning one of the boys under its body and leaving him unconscious.
Kelley, who claimed he was solely responsible for the care of the three young boys at the time, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child endangerment in connection with the incident. He admitted that despite being aware of the age restrictions for operating large vehicles like the Polaris Ranger 500 UTV, he allowed his son to drive it with two other children.
The boy who was driving said he lost control of the vehicle on a trail near the neighbor's house due to fresh snow, causing it to spin out of control and roll onto its side. The boy in question claimed that one of the passengers was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Kelley told the court that while his wife was present at home, he took sole responsibility for supervising the boys during the ride. The 6-year-old victim sustained serious injuries, including a bruised lung and broken leg, before being airlifted to hospital where he spent several days in a medically induced coma.
Kelley's case will proceed with a pre-sentence investigation prior to his official sentencing on February 24, at which point he faces up to three years of probation. As part of his sentence, he is required to complete an ATV safety course and serve 100 hours of community service.
A devastating UTV crash in the Lansing Avenue North area left a young boy seriously injured when his father, Samuel Kelley, 56, allowed his 6-year-old son to operate an ATV with two other children on board. The vehicle rolled over, pinning one of the boys under its body and leaving him unconscious.
Kelley, who claimed he was solely responsible for the care of the three young boys at the time, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child endangerment in connection with the incident. He admitted that despite being aware of the age restrictions for operating large vehicles like the Polaris Ranger 500 UTV, he allowed his son to drive it with two other children.
The boy who was driving said he lost control of the vehicle on a trail near the neighbor's house due to fresh snow, causing it to spin out of control and roll onto its side. The boy in question claimed that one of the passengers was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Kelley told the court that while his wife was present at home, he took sole responsibility for supervising the boys during the ride. The 6-year-old victim sustained serious injuries, including a bruised lung and broken leg, before being airlifted to hospital where he spent several days in a medically induced coma.
Kelley's case will proceed with a pre-sentence investigation prior to his official sentencing on February 24, at which point he faces up to three years of probation. As part of his sentence, he is required to complete an ATV safety course and serve 100 hours of community service.
how could samuel kelley be so reckless with his kids lives?! 
he knew the risks of letting a 6-yr-old drive a huge utv but just went ahead anyway... it's like he was playing russian roulette and ended up putting his own kid in hospital 
! the fact that one of the other passengers wasn't wearing a seatbelt makes it even worse 
. kelley needs to be held accountable for this and get some serious time for what he did 
. i'm all for second chances, but not when you're putting people's lives at risk like this 
!
. I mean, I get that we all make mistakes as parents or as people in general, but come on... allowing your 6-year-old son to drive a UTV with two other kids on board? That's just not right 
. And to think that the kid wasn't even wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash... ugh, it's just devastating 
. And yeah, 100 hours of community service and an ATV safety course is a good start... but it's gonna take a lot more than that to make things right 
.
... I feel bad for his family, but they gotta be held accountable too 
. At least Kelley is owning up to it now and taking steps towards making things right with the safety course and community service 
.
The fact that his son lost control and the other kid wasn't wearing a seatbelt makes it even more disturbing.
just heard about this crazy UTV crash in Washington County... the dad's all alone on taking care of those 3 kids & he lets a 6-yr-old drive with 2 others on board 
? that's insane! and to make matters worse, he knew the age restrictions but did it anyway 
. hope he recovers soon. the dad is lucky to get probation & community service 
. 100 hours of community service? that's some serious responsibility for him to take on 
. anyway, at least the kids are safe now 
.
Kelley's gotta do some serious time for this one 
. The fact that his wife was home alone with the other two kids while he took off with the UTV is just wild 
... and that kid who got hurt, poor little dude 
! 6-year-old kid was lucky to be alive 
! How can anyone put kids in danger like that? 
. I'm glad the kid is getting help 
, but what about his family? They must be going through a tough time 
... especially when there are little kids around 
. I'm just glad the dad is taking responsibility for his actions 
.
!
how could he do this to his own child? 
and now the poor kid has to deal with broken bones and a bruised lung... so much to process 
.
and not having seatbelts on all passengers is just reckless 
. The fact that he knew the dangers of these vehicles and chose to ignore them is just worrying. Thankfully, the boy is alive, but the injuries he sustained are serious 
. It's a good thing Kelley took responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty, but now it's up to him to face the consequences and make sure something like this never happens again 
So I'm reading about this guy Samuel Kelley who's been charged with child endangerment after a UTV crash that left a 6-yr-old boy seriously hurt... what kind of parent lets their kid drive a Polaris Ranger 500?! 
Either way, I hope the young boy recovers fully from his injuries. 
. anyway, hopefully this case teaches him and others to prioritize safety first, especially with young ones around