The little girl thrown off the bridge by her custodial dad? She was afraid of water (St. Petersburg, Florida)

This is a pretty comprehensive picture of how an abusive custodial father operates--though the reporter fails to connect all the dots. For that matter, even the women who have been his victims haven't really processed all the sh** he pulled on them.

Some observations:

1) The reporters falls for a common pitfall here, in labeling the relationship between the parents as "tumultuous." There is no evidence here that the mother was ever violent. There was no mutual violence. It was the father who inflicted violence on the mother, such as hitting her on the head with a cinder block.

2) In fact, the mother has been accused of nothing but petty crimes for the most part, except for the child neglect. But all this is pretty dubious given the father's outrageous ability to LIE AND CON and accuse OTHERS of wrongdoing. Classic narcissistic behavior, in that he projects onto others his own abusive motives. He seems most likely to do this to women, but it appears he has also faked injuries at a local restaurant, and appeared to be found of randomly suing people for injury. That makes Daddy's accusation of domestic violence against the mother pretty dubious.

3) Unfortunately, the fathers rights people have brainwashed the judiciary into believing mothers are the liars. On the contrary, research shows that fathers lie just as often if not more so.

4) Victims are often confused and think they have experienced a "Jeckyll and Hyde" personality. In fact, JOHN JONCHUCK comes across a classic psychopath. He's able to fake being nice and charming as long as it get him what he wants and the victim is compliant. If the victim is no longer offering him what he wants, he turns on her. It's also a "walking on eggshells" technique that leaves victims nervous and off-kilter--all the better to control them.

5) Both the mother and the friends desperately want to believe that this guy really loved his daughter despite the way he treated them. I'm sorry ladies. That's not how these guys work. The daughter was showing classic trauma bonding behavior. She knew--instinctively--that she had to cater to Daddy and flatter him with affection to stay safe. Who knows what set Daddy off. Maybe he was just pissed off for getting caught speeding. But the little girl paid for that with her life. And in the way she was afraid of most.

A TRULY SICK BASTARD THIS FATHER WAS. SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP AGES AGO.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article5603850.html

Friend: Florida girl thrown from bridge hated water

By TAMARA LUSH - Associated Press 01/08/2015 2:19 PM | Updated: 01/08/2015 2:19 PM

Tampa Bay Times

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Phoebe Jonchuck, the 5-year-old girl who police say was thrown from a bridge Thursday by her father, had long curly hair, a wide smile and loved princesses. She hated baths and water, making her death even more gut-wrenching.

Her parents, John Jonchuck and Michelle Kerr, were together for six tumultuous years, and police were called numerous times for domestic violence-related complaints. Both had arrest records.

An attorney who had represented Jonchuck in the past reported him to police and child welfare workers on Wednesday, though it wasn't immediately clear why. Jonchuck had custody of Phoebe.

"I always saw him as a good dad," Kerr said. "She would always say, 'I love you daddy.' She loved her dad."

Jonchuck was arrested shortly after he threw his daughter and was in jail facing a first-degree murder charge, police said.

Just after midnight Wednesday, police saw Jonchuck's Chrysler PT Cruiser going about 100 mph toward the Sunshine Skyway bridge. By the time an officer caught up with him, Jonchuck had pulled over on the approach span to the bridge.

Jonchuck got out and started toward the officer, who pulled his weapon. Then Jonchuck grabbed Phoebe from the back seat and "held her face to his chest" as he carried her to the railing, St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway said.

It wasn't clear whether Phoebe was alive, though the officer said he "thought he heard the child scream" before Jonchuck threw her into Tampa Bay about 60 feet below, Holloway said.

Phoebe's body was recovered in the dark, early morning hours about a mile from the bridge. Rescue crews tried to revive her. She was pronounced dead at 2:44 a.m. An autopsy is pending.

Police records said Jonchuck, 25, was separated from Phoebe's 29-year-old mother and the two had a rocky relationship, with Jonchuck requesting a restraining order against her as recently as last month. Police said the request was denied. Jonchuck and Phoebe lived with his dad in Tampa.

Linda Mattos, the owner of a daycare that looked after Phoebe, said Jonchuck and Phoebe were homeless in 2013. Jonchuck had a back injury and didn't work, so Mattos allowed them to stay at her house for about six months, until Jonchuck started to pick fights with her.

When she asked him to leave, he tried to get revenge, Mattos said, by calling child protective services.

"He was very revengeful," she said. "He tried to ruin me."

It was a claim that Kerr echoed.

She said she last saw her daughter and Jonchuck on Christmas Eve. They had a nice evening together and then he called child protective services on her and made false abuse allegations, she said.

"He does the Jekyll and Hyde. It's just something that goes on in his head, he just wasn't wired right," she said.

And yet, Kerr said that she never imagined Jonchuck would hurt Phoebe.

Both she and Jonchuck had several run-ins with authorities. At one point, Jonchuck filed for a restraining order against Kerr, while Kerr said he struck her in the head with a cinder block. Since 2008, Jonchuck has been charged with domestic battery six times according to court records. In every case, the charges were dropped or never pursued by the alleged victim.

She has an arrest record consisting of child neglect, petty theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, among other charges.

Jonchuck's first court hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Jail records didn't list the name of Jonchuck's attorney.

Genevieve Torres, Jonchuck's lawyer on a paternity suit, reported him to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children and Families on Wednesday, said her legal assistant, Kyrsten Malcolm, who wouldn't elaborate. Police confirmed the report but didn't say what it was about.

Mattos said that Jonchuck had back problems following a fall at an area restaurant, after which he sued the chain and received a cash settlement.

"He never really finished anything completely. He seemed to be the kind of person who had accidents and sued people," she said.

But he doted on his daughter, both Kerr and Mattos said.

"She was a very smart little girl who loved princesses and who loved to color. She hated the water and she didn't know how to swim," Mattos said, choking up. "That's what bothered me the most this morning because I knew how much she hated the water. She wouldn't even take a bath."

--- AP Researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report.