Dad accused of beating children with electric cord (Deland, Florida)

Dad DAMIEN CORNELIUS BRYANT has been accused of aggravated child abuse and two counts of child abuse for beating his children with a looped electric cord. It is said that the kids were "visiting" him--whether this is court-ordered or at the mother's discretion is not specified here. Would be interesting to know whether this is court-sanctioned abuse or some other scenario. Reporters need to start asking.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/breakingnews/beat080609.htm

August 06, 2009

Police: DeLand man beat children with electric cord
By PATRICIO G. BALONA Staff Writer

DELAND -- A DeLand man accused of beating his children with an electric cord has been arrested, police said.

Damien Cornelius Bryant, 35, was charged with aggravated child abuse and two counts of child abuse on Tuesday, court records show. Bryant is being held at the Volusia county Branch Jail on $30,000 bail, a booking officer said.

BryantDeLand police were first alerted to the incident by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office in May 2008. Authorities there reported some children living at the Apple Woods Apartments had been severely injured after being beaten with an electrical cord, a charging affidavit states.

A DeLand police detective who investigated the case reported a 16-year-old said her father beat her and her younger siblings -- an 11-year-old sister and an 8-year-old brother -- with an electrical cord while visiting him at his DeLand home, the report said. The father beat the 16-year-old because he thought she was having sex, police said.

A doctor who examined the children found u-shaped bruises on the legs and bruises on the shoulders of the 16-year-old. There were some scabs as well, indicating the girl had bled from the beatings, investigators said.

"These injuries indicate and are consistent with a vicious beating with a looped cord. The injuries are abusive and the perpetrator should face criminal charges," the investigating officer wrote in her report.

Bruises were found on the front and back of the 11-year-old thighs and of the 8-year-old, the report showed.

A woman who answered the telephone this morning listed as that of the children's mother, hung up.