Dad arraigned for punching 5-year-old son in the eye (Enid, Oklahoma)

Dad BENJAMIM REAVIS WIL-LIAMS has been arranged on a felony child abuse count for punching his 5-year-old son in the eye. It appears the child had received a bad behavior mark at school. Oh, and he presumably hid some dirty underwear in his room. Real big stuff like that. Yea, that's sure teaching a child good behavior, Dad.

http://www.enidnews.com/localnews/local_story_303003632.html

Published: October 29, 2009 11:35 pm

Man arraigned for allegedly punching son

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer

A 30-year-old Enid man was arraigned Thursday on a felony child abuse count for allegedly punching his 5-year-old son.

Benjamin Reavis Wil-liams faces no less than a year in jail, no more than life in prison and/or a fine of $500 to $5,000, if convicted.

According to an affidavit, an Enid Police Department detective was contacted Oct. 5 by Department of Human Services about a 5-year-old boy with a black eye. The worker told the detective she was contacted by the boy’s school when he told a counselor his dad hit him in the eye.

When the detective spoke with the boy and asked about the black eye, the boy said, “Dad punched me in the eye.” The boy said his father hit him because he “got a red,” which is a form of discipline at his school, where a red mark is given for bad behavior.

The boy said Williams hit him while he was in his bedroom and his sister saw it happen. He said his dad said he was sorry and it was an accident, according to the affidavit, and after it happened his dad gave him an ice pack for his eye.

The detective and DHS official also interviewed the boy’s sister Oct. 5 about the incident.

The girl told police she didn’t know how her brother got the black eye, but it happened when he was outside playing, according to the affidavit. The detective told the girl they had already spoken to her brother and knew that wasn’t what he told them.

The girl then said her brother got in trouble for hiding some laundry and she didn’t really see anything but heard her dad screaming at her brother and then heard her brother scream, according to the affidavit.

When ask-ed, the girl said she saw no injuries on her brother before her dad began to yell at him. She said afterward her brother’s eye was red and he was holding it, ac-cording to the affidavit. She said her dad gave him an ice pack and said he was sorry, according to the affidavit. The girl said it happened after school on Oct. 2.

The detective then spoke with Williams. He told police he did not know why they were there but figured it was because his son had injured his eye playing over the weekend, according to the affidavit. The detective told Williams he already knew what happened and the boy was not injured playing around.

Williams said he got mad at his son and has never been that mad before, according to the affidavit. He said he did it before he even realized it.

The detective asked Williams to tell him exactly what he did and Williams said he hit his son in the eye, according to the affidavit.

When asked why he did it, Williams said his son had hidden five or six pairs of dirty underwear in his room and when he first scolded him the boy did not seem to care, which is what really made him mad, according to the affidavit.

Williams was ordered to return to court Dec. 14 for a bond appearance and is free on $10,000 bond.