A 38-year-old Lehighton man allegedly punched a 5-year-old boy in the leg so hard he broke the boy's femur.

So severe was the fracture that surgery was required and two titanium elastic nails were inserted into the boy's leg.Tony Outlaw of 345 West Alley was arraigned Friday before District Judge Edward Lewis of Jim Thorpe on charges of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and simple assault.Outlaw was committed to Carbon County Prison in lieu of $50,000 cash bail. The arresting officer is patrolman Michael Svetik.According to the affidavit filed by Svetik, a woman brought her young son to the emergency room of the Palmerton campus of Blue Mountain Health System.The youngster had a broken femur and stated that Outlaw "punched me in the chest and leg."The boy was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital Center for further treatment.Svetik and Sergeant Joseph Lawrence went to Outlaw's house. They took Outlaw to the police station, the affidavit says, "so they could get his side of the story."En route to the station, the affidavit says Outlaw told police "all he did was punch (the victim) in the back of the leg, but he did not punch him hard."At the station, "The defendant then gave a written statement stating that the reason he punched (the victim) was to discipline him for not listening to his mother," the affidavit says.Outlaw also told police that when he struck the boy in the back of the leg, the youngster "immediately began crying and saying that it hurt."Lewis has scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.