Phillip Francis Horn

A Russellville man was arrested Monday after he was accused of abusing four male children between the ages of five and 11, authorities said.

Phillip Francis Horn, 30, 7320 Franklin 48, Russellville, was arrested and charged with four counts of child abuse, Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said.

According to Oliver, the sheriff’s office received a report on June 30 from one of the victim’s family members stating Horn had been abusing his own child and a stepchild.

Oliver said reports state Horn is accused of grabbing one of the children around the throat and holding him up in the air by the throat, hitting the children excessively with the buckle end of a belt and hitting one child in the face with a ring and busting the child’s nose.

Oliver said an investigation was immediately launched into the allegations and the children were removed from Horn’s care.

During that investigation, Oliver said investigators learned of two more children who lived in Colbert County who had also allegedly been abused by Horn.

These children are also boys, with one being Horn’s biological son and one being another stepson.

“It appeared that a bulk of the abuse of these children occurred in Colbert County, but we received reports that when these two children came to Franklin County for a visit on Father’s Day, there was some abuse that occurred here,” Oliver said.

Oliver said reports indicate Horn is accused of beating the children excessively with a belt, leaving marks and bruising, beating the children with a 2×4 piece of wood, and allegedly shooting both children with a BB gun.

“These are absolutely horrible allegations,” Oliver stated.

“I can’t imagine what these children may have gone through. We appreciate the family members for coming forward when they learned about this ongoing abuse that had been reported.”

At a bond hearing on Monday, Franklin County District Judge Paula McDowell set Horn’s bond at $100,000.

He is currently in custody at the Franklin County Jail.