Custodial dad charged with child abuse; said to have beat 5- and 6-year-old daughters with belt (South San Francisco, California)

Custodial dad RONALD BRIAN WHITE has been charged with child abuse for "allegedly" beating his 5- and 6-year-old daughters with a belt, and forcing them to eat by pouring hot sauce on their food, causing at least one child to vomit. Seems there was also a psycho girlfriend involved in the abuse. The mother "allegedly" has drug issues, and this is supposedly why the abuser dad has sole custody.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_13377294

South San Francisco man pleads not guilty to child abuse
By Joshua Melvin
San Mateo County Times
Posted: 09/19/2009 03:00:06 PM PDT
Updated: 09/19/2009 05:59:38 PM PDT


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — A South San Francisco man who used hot sauce, a belt and cold showers to discipline his two young daughters has pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges, a prosecutor said Friday.

Ronald Brian White, 38, disciplined his daughters, who are 5 and 6 years old, with a belt and put at least one of them in a cold shower when she wet her bed, said South San Francisco Detective Tom Neary.

He went on to say that on occasions when the daughters would refuse to eat a meal, White would pour hot sauce on the food and force them to eat.

White faces a maximum of eight years in state prison if convicted of all the charges.

"Everything was negative in the way these kids were disciplined," he said.

Police arrested White after the 20-year-old daughter of his girlfriend Katherine Wiles, 38, of South San Francisco, called authorities about the abuse, authorities said. Wiles is not the mother of White's two daughters. The 20-year-old who called police is not White's child.

Wiles and her daughter were staying with White for a few weeks while they were looking for an apartment. They had recently moved to the Bay Area. The 20-year-old witnessed several alleged incidents of child abuse, including the spanking by belt of the girls.

She also told police that White and her mother had poured hot sauce on a grapefruit that the 6-year-old girl had refused to eat, prosecutors said. The pair then forced the girl to eat the
fruit, which she threw up, the 20-year-old said.

Neary said that it is not clear if that happened. White admitted to using hot sauce as punishment at other times, but not on the grapefruit. The daughters are too young to clearly explain what their father and his girlfriend did or didn't do, Neary said.

The 6-year-old, however, told Neary that her father didn't put hot sauce on the fruit.

"It's clearly not as bad as we had anticipated," Neary said and added, "The girls are very young and this is inappropriate."

Police believe the girl's mother is in the Fresno area and said that she has a history of drug arrests. White has sole custody of his daughters.

Neary said there was a child protective service case against the father in Fresno, but he didn't have any further details on that incident. The girls are currently in foster care.

Wiles has not been charged with a crime and is out of custody on a $50,000 bail bond. Prosecutors are reviewing the case. She is due back in court for arraignment Sept. 20.

White is in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail and is slated to be in court Sept. 29.