Police release interview tapes of man charged in connection with death of 6-year-old Middletown boy

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - The tapes from police interviews with the man who pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the death of a 6-year-old boy in February have been released.

James Hamilton, 42, pleaded guilty to several charges in the case of 6-year-old James Hutchinson.

Hamilton walked into the Middletown Police Department on Feb. 28 with his girlfriend and Hutchinson’s mother, Brittany Gosney, to report the 6-year-old missing.

For nearly three hours on back-to-back days, Hamilton sits in the interview room to answer questions. At the same time, Gosney was in another room also being questioned.

He maintains that he never killed Hutchinson, but he helped his girlfriend get rid of her son’s body.

“She wanted something to help hold him down in the water. There’s a brick tied to his chest,” Hamilton explained.

Gosney, 29, was sentenced to the maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 21 years after she admitted to killing Hutchinson.

Hamilton told police Gosney’s three children were “acting up” and she needed to do something about them. Hamilton’s statement matches what Gosney said when she told investigators her boyfriend pressured her to get rid of the kids.

“I told her, ‘either you need to find somewhere to go with you and your disrespectful kids, or I’m leaving,’” Hamilton explained during the interview.

Gosney took the kids to a Preble County park with plans to abandon them. Hamilton told investigators that was something they had done before.

Hutchinson died that night at the park.

“She was supposed to take the kids up there give them a scare tactic,” Hamilton said. “Drop them off for a few minutes, then turn around and go get them because they were all acting up real bad.”

Gosney drove back home, where Hamilton was, with her son’s body and the other two kids.

According to Hamilton, Hutchinson was already dead when Gosney got back.

That is when they decided to dump the 6-year-old’s body in the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Throughout the interview, Hamilton only becomes emotional after learning that he will be charged.

“Now, I’m going to jail just for helping her,” he said.

Hamilton pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, endangering children, and gross abuse of a corpse. He is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on Oct. 5. Hamilton faces up to 19 years in prison.

Hutchinson’s body still has not been found.

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