By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A Fifth District Court judge recently dismissed a child abuse case against a Cedar City man after refusing to bind the charge over for trial following a preliminary hearing.
Judge Meb Anderson declined to bind over the charge against Landon Michael Kartchner, 26, in a ruling issued Dec. 16, one week after a preliminary hearing was held Dec. 9. As a result, the case was dismissed and closed.
After hearing the preliminary hearing, Anderson took the matter under advisement before issuing his decision, but the written order does not detail his findings or legal reasoning behind the dismissal.
Preliminary hearings serve as an early screening stage in criminal cases, allowing a judge to determine whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to establish probable cause that a crime was committed and that the defendant committed it.
While the hearings can resemble a mini-trial — with testimony, exhibits and cross-examination — the standard of proof is far lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” burden required at trial.
Defendants are typically bound over after preliminary hearings. A judge’s refusal to do so is uncommon and brings the case to an end unless prosecutors refile.
According to court records, Kartchner was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with one count of child abuse, a class A misdemeanor designated as a domestic violence offense under Utah law.
The case opened after the Division of Child and Family Services received a referral involving a 5-year-old girl who was observed at school with what investigators described as a clear and obvious human bite mark on her right forearm.
A DCFS caseworker responded to the school and later arranged a forensic interview at the Children’s Justice Center.
During that interview, the child reportedly said the bite mark came from her father during what she described as “torturing” or playing, later stating she had been told not to use the word torture. The child also disclosed that her father bites her on her arms and legs and that he sometimes leaves marks.
Kartchner, in his interview, said he bit his daughter while they were horseplaying and did not bite her very hard. He acknowledged biting her more than once and said the marks can last several days, according to the affidavit.
He also described biting his wife during sex and said he has a biting fetish. He told officers he avoids biting her hard enough to cause serious injury because medical bills would be too expensive. Kartchner also made other statements during the interview that concerned detectives, the affidavit stated. However, details of those were not included.
Officers told Kartchner they did not believe the child was safe and advised him that biting hard enough to leave visible marks constituted child abuse. He was arrested later that evening and booked into the Iron County Jail.
The case is now closed.