Carnel Chamberlain’s body was found last Thursday, concealed beneath the porch of his mother’s Michigan home. On Friday, charges were brought against a suspect: but not for murder.

20-year-old Anthony Bennett, the boyfriend of Carnel’s 21-year-old mother Jaimee Chamberlain, has been charged with assaulting the youngster, just weeks before his death.

Jaimee told the FBI she saw her son with a bruised and swollen face, as well as a cut lip, in late-May or early-June. She has accused Bennett of striking Carnel when she was away from their home, and claimed Bennett picked the child up by the neck before dropping him.

Family members have also revealed Bennett was the last person to see Carnel before his disappearance, which led to a week-long manhunt in woods and ponds around the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe reservation.

Bennett now faces a charge of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to a child under 16, though federal prosecutors would not reveal whether the charge was a way to hold Bennett while more serious charges are being considered. Prosecutors have requested Bennett is not released on bond.

One person who seems convinced of Bennett’s guilt is Kevin Chamberlain, Jaimee’s cousin, who has become the family spokesman at this sad time. He told the Associated Press that Bennett came off as “a kind of wannabe thug,” adding:

“We have no choice but to believe [Anthony Bennett] had something to do with it. All eyes and arrows point right to him.”

Why Jaimee Chamberlain allowed her son to be in her boyfriend’s company while she believed abuse was ongoing is not yet known.

Carnel Chamberlain Case: Anthony Bennett Charged With Assaulting Boy Before He Died is a post from: The Inquisitr

The body of a Michigan toddler, missing since June 21st, has been found under a “porch or deck” at the family home, according to the Associated Press.

Four-year-old Carnel Chamberlain was last seen more than a week ago in the care of his mother’s boyfriend. After days of searching, Chamberlain’s body was located in the yard of the home on the reservation of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, 70 miles north of Lansing, Michigan.

In the harrowing days during which the family frantically searched for little Carnel, Kevin Chamberlain, a cousin of mom Jaimee Chamberlain, was designated the family’s spokesman.

After the sad discovery of the boy’s body earlier today, Chamberlain commented that the corpse “had to be in a grave, and that the family “had looked underneath before and didn’t see anything.”

As far as a reaction to the finding, Chamberlain told press:

“There’s a lot of anger, just utter despair and disbelief. I don’t know how else to define it… After a long week of searching and hoping, we’re at a horrific, bitter end.”

Jaimee Chamberlain first learned her boy was missing on the 21st, when she returned home from work. Upon her arrival, she asked her boyfriend where Carnel had gone, and the man said he did not know. Chamberlain later said she “ran inside and looked around” but “didn’t know what to do.”

In the days following Chamberlain’s initial disappearance, police say the boyfriend of the boy’s mother had not been cooperative with the investigation, and that he retained a lawyer.

Body of Missing Michigan 4-Year-Old Carnel Chamberlain Found Under Family Porch is a post from: The Inquisitr