N.J. Boy Pleads Guilty to Killing Toddler

[jazz lady (Premo)]

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - An 11-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering a 3-year-old, admitting he beat the toddler with a baseball bat and dumped him face down in a drainage ditch.

Aaron Kean, who was 10 at the time of the crime, told a judge Thursday that he brutalized the youngster because the boy was bothering him and wanted to use his scooter, people who attended the closed juvenile proceeding told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Kean, of Woodbridge, could get up to 20 years in custody at sentencing Friday. He is expected to be sent out of state to a specialized children's mental health facility.

Authorities said Kean lured the Amir Beeks from a library in March before beating the boy in a backyard playhouse and leaving him face down in shallow water with his pants down, leading to an initial sexual assault charge. The child died the next day at a hospital.

The sexual assault charge and weapons charges were dismissed, though under state law Kean could be put on a criminal registry under Megan's Law for kidnapping.

Authorities have described Kean as a deeply troubled youth who repeatedly fought with neighborhood children and was expelled from two schools.

The state Division of Youth and Family Services found that Kean's father, Kurt, physically abused him in 2001, but did not remove the boy from his home. Kurt Kean has denied the charge.

Amir's adoptive mother, Rosalyn Singleton, has sued the child welfare agency for neglecting Aaron Kean. The agency's commissioner resigned last week following a string of high-profile child abuse cases in families that were under state supervision.

UFB. I have the horrible feeling this won't be the last we hear about this "kid."

The state Division of Youth and Family Services found that Kean's father, Kurt, physically abused him in 2001, but did not remove the boy from his home. Kurt Kean has denied the charge.

Sure Kurt, you son just learned to deal with anger, physically for no reason.