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Ex-wife says Kanawha prosecutor abused child

 

Charleston Daily Mail photo Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants
Charleston Daily Mail photo
Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia State Police are investigating allegations of child abuse involving Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants.

Plants’ ex-wife, Allison Plants, on Wednesday claimed that he abused one of his children by disciplining him in an excessive manner, according to a statement issued by the State Police.

Sgt. M.S. Adams of the Crimes Against Children Unit in Wheeling is investigating the complaint, the statement said. Plants had not been charged with a crime as of Thursday.

Plants had a press conference Thursday afternoon to address the allegations, against the advice of his attorneys. He told reporters at the start of his statement that he would not take questions.

He said for the last 10 years he and his ex-wife were in agreement that spanking their children on occasion was an appropriate form of discipline.

“I know that some people disagree with that, but both my wife and I agree that it is appropriate at times and we both spank our children,” Plants said. “This was not an issue until I recently got remarried and she recently hired Mike Clifford — and this is a page right out of Mike Clifford’s play book.”

A Charleston attorney, Clifford also was Kanawha prosecutor in the 2000s. He confirmed that he and Ed ReBrook are representing Allison Plants.

When asked about Mark Plants’ press conference, he responded that he’d “been called worse things by better people.”

Clifford would not go into the allegations his client has made against her ex-husband. He said he did not want to hinder the State Police’s investigation into the matter.

He did confirm that Kanawha Family Court Judge Mike Kelly granted a domestic violence protective order had been granted, ordering Mark Plants to stay away from his ex-wife and their two children.

Plants said he’s cooperated with investigators and had spoken with the lead investigator in the case.

“I don’t come to you today as a prosecutor, I come to you today as a father,” Plants said. “And as a father I’m absolutely disgusted that my children are being involved in political mudslinging and politically motivated allegations.”

Plants and former wife Allison have two sons together…

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