Divorced dad on trial for assault for branding his children (Port Angeles, Washington)

Dad MARK SEAMANDS obviously had plenty of custodial rights after his divorce. It sounds like he has spent enough time with these kids to really mess up their heads, and convince them that they were so worthless, that it was perfectly okay to literally brand them like ranch cattle (Seamands' Kids). Talk about the epitome of coercive control and physical abuse.... Dad's now on trial for assault. But it seems to me that something should have been done about eliminating this dad's contact years ago, long before these kids' brains were "branded" like this. I'm sure that there was plenty of evidence that this guy had more than a few loose screws long before the branding incident.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/23524183/detail.html

Man On Trial Accused Of Branding His Children
Posted: 6:32 pm PDT May 11, 2010
Updated: 8:41 pm PDT May 11, 2010

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Trial is under way for a Sequim man who is accused of permanently scarring his three children by branding them like ranch cattle.

Mark Seamands is on trial for two counts of assault, accused of branding his 13- and 15-year-old sons. He also allegedly branded his 18-year-old daughter, but faces no charges in that case because she was old enough to give consent.

Seamands' ex-wife told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that she was horrified 18 months ago when she saw that Seamands had branded their sons and their daughter with the mark "SK," for Seamands' Kids.

"My youngest boy, it's on his chest. My middle boy, it's on his arm and my daughter -- it's on the back of her leg," said Alison Davis, the children's mother.

"I don't know if you have seen an animal being branded, but I have. They squeal; they yell; they scream. It's nothing pretty," Davis said.

Jurors also heard testimony on Tuesday from the children's grandmother, who described her shock at seeing the brand.

"I reached up, put my hand like this and said, 'That must hurt,'" Pam Davis said.

Pam Davis said one of the boys showed her a cell phone video of himself being scarred.

"And he held it like this, and I started watching the video of him being branded and that's when it was too much. I just turned and walked upstairs," Pam Davis said.

The two boys are expected to testify and are expected to defend their father. They are reportedly proud of their brands and do not think their father did anything wrong.

It's an idea their mother and prosecutors reject.

"I think it's child abuse in every way shape and form," Alison Davis said.

The jury is expected to see video of the boy being branded.

Seamands is also expected to take the stand and show his own brand.