Dad charged with assault for beating and choking daughter (Douglas, Wyoming)

Can't help but wonder if dad MICHAEL PINGS is single and/or custodial. Notice that there is no mention of a mother in the home. And that he assaulted his daughter for doing housework (washing the dishes) "wrong." This suggests that she may have taken on these responsibilities--typical in a father custody home. But of course, the mother's erasure from the story goes without explanation, and Dad's custodial status is left obscure.

http://www.douglas-budget.com/news/article_d0a95ac8-ede8-11e4-9709-bb416551c33a.html

Man hit with four child abuse charges

Posted: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 7:00 am
By KASEY M. ORR Reporter

A Douglas man was arrested at the end of March and has been charged with four felonies which include child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.

Michael Pings has had trouble in Converse County before, including previous assault and drug charges, but now will go before the district court for allegedly beating, choking and threatening his daughter, a girl younger than 16 years old whose name is being withheld.

According to court affidavits, the girl told police she had broken a plate while washing dishes on the evening of March 24, after which her father threw her to the floor and held her by the throat while punching and kicking her, before holding a broken piece of the plate to her throat and saying he would kill her.

She told officers that, on the morning following this attack, her father struck her on the back with items, including a fireplace tool. Court documents state the police observed marks including a scratch on the girl’s neck and bruises on her back they felt were consistent with the type of actions she described.

Officers arrested Pings and took the girl into protective custody.

The charges carried over to the district court include one count of child abuse, one count of strangulation of a household member, aggravated assault threatening with a drawn deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Maximum penalties for the charges, should Pings be found guilty, are up to 30 years in prison and $40,000 in fines.