soldier has been charged with assault after he allegedly held his
4-year-old daughter mostly under water because she couldn’t recite the
alphabet. Charging papers equated the technique to torture.
The incident came to light
neighborhood wearing a Kevlar vest and threatening to break windows,
according to Thurston County Superior Court charging documents.
When officers arrived, Tabor’s girlfriend told them
that she and Tabor, 27, had just had an argument and that he beats his
daughter, Yelm Police Chief
“Once she spoke to officers, she was articulate and told us right away, ‘Daddy did this,'” 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, Tabor told
officers he used the water technique as a way to have his daughter
learn the alphabet. “He felt she was academically behind for her age,
and it was his way of trying to get her to learn,” Stancil said.
Charging papers say Tabor “did not act as though he felt there was anything wrong with this form of punishment.”
Prosecutors also allege Tabor 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
Stancil said officers called Child Protective
Services, and a foster family took the girl to a hospital to make sure
she didn’t have serious injuries.
The girl had been staying with Tabor for six weeks. Tabor and the girl’s mother, who lives in
had been involved in a lengthy custody battle and were supposed to
share custody. The girl was to stay with each parent for five months,
Stancil said.
The child had been raised by her maternal grandmother, who lives in
According to Stancil, Tabor wouldn’t let the girl
talk to her grandmother and took away a stuffed animal she sent. Police
have since let her speak to her grandmother and returned the stuffed
animal.
“She wanted to go back to
Stancil said Tabor’s girlfriend also might be
charged in the case. “How can something go on for a month and a half
and not know anything about it?” he said.
Stancil said the girl’s mother also came out from
but returned home without the child. “The grandmother beat her to the
punch by filing the paperwork prohibiting (the mother) from being
around her until the courts sort it out.”
—
(c) 2010, The Seattle Times.
Visit The Seattle Times Extra on the World Wide Web at http://www.seattletimes.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
