Personal Injury and Criminal Defense Legal Blog

A Washington based soldier has been charged with domestic violence assault based on allegations of abusing 4-year-old over alphabet lesson

A Washington based soldier has been charged with domestic violence assault after he allegedly held his 4-year-old daughter underwater because she couldn’t recite the alphabet. The prosecution has alleged in charging documents that the defendant’s actions amount to torture.

On January 31, 2010, the defendant, Joshua Tabor, was arguing with his girlfriend when she called the police. When Officers arrived on the scene, she notified them of a history of assault between Mr. Tabor and his daughter. Officers found the young child hiding in a locked bathroom. Reports indicate she appeared to have suffered severely physical abuse.

When officers arrived, Tabor’s girlfriend told them that she and Tabor, 27, had just had an argument and that he beats his daughter, said Yelm Police Chief Todd Stancil. Officers found the girl hiding in a locked bathroom and covered with extensive bruises all over her body, including her ears.

“Once she spoke to officers, she was articulate and told us right away, ‘Daddy did this,’ ” Yelm Police Chief Todd Stancil said. The girl told officers that her father hits her, and she also said he would fill a sink, lay her on her back and put her head into the water until the water was up to her eyes, Stancil said.

According to Stancil and charging papers, the defendant admitted to holding his daughter under water as an educational tool. “He felt she was academically behind for her age, and it was his way of trying to get her to learn,” Stancil said. Reports indicate the defendant felt his actions were justified and an acceptable way of parenting. Prosecutors also allege the defendant would force his daughter to sit in urine-soaked clothes “until he gives her permission to change” as punishment for wetting herself. Tabor is restricted to the Joint Base Lewis-McChord base during the investigation, Stancil said. The defendant is to appear in Thurston County Superior Court on Feb. 16 for arraignment.

Stancil said the defendant’s girlfriend may additionally be charged in the case. “How can something go on for a month and a half and [she] not know anything about it?” he said.

Regarding the child’s well-being, Child Protective Services were notified and a foster family had been given temporary custody. The girl was quickly taken to a hospital to rule out any serious injuries. She is currently residing with her grandmother in Montana.

Source : Seattle Times