A DeKalb County Police Officer is free on bond after he was indicted by a grand jury for beating a child in Walton County.

DeKalb Police Officer Matt Davy is charged with felony child cruelty and aggravated assault in the October 8th beating of his girlfriend's 13-year old son. Walton County authorities said it all stemmed from an argument between the boy and some other kids, ending at the home of a neighborhood girl and her mother. The girl's mom called Davy, who arrived a short time later to hear the girl's side of the story.
 
"The daughter tells him, 'he cussed me out and he pulled this knife out,'" said Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman. "The guy says, 'Oh, is that right?'"

Witnesses said Davy turned on the boy, beating him and choking him until the 13-year old passed out. Davy then left the child in the neighbor's yard to find his own way home.

Bob Hastings saw the beating and saw the boy get up after Davy drove off. Slowly, holding his stomach in obvious pain, the sobbing boy walked his bicycle home. Hastings said he was shocked.

"It went from a heated exchange or conversation with the neighbors to rage," Hastings recalled. "(It seemed) extreme to me from a disciplinary standpoint. It was not normal behavior in public."

Davy was released from the Walton County Jail Monday on a $15,000 bond. There is no word yet on when the case might go to trial.