A father in Utah has been charged with aggravated child abuse after police said he whipped his 14-year-old daughter with a jump rope during a home weightlifting session. According to an affidavit, the attack began when the teenager could not finish a heavy set of squats. The case has drawn attention because of how strict the training routine was and what officers found when they arrived.
A call to the house
Police were called to the family home on Saturday. The affidavit says officers could hear a female crying in the background of the call. When they got to the house, the girl’s mother, 34-year-old Abush Reid, burst into tears and told her husband that he had hit their daughter.
The girl was crying hard and hyperventilating. Once she had calmed down a little, she showed the responding officer where she had been struck.
What officers found
The officer saw prominent red marks on the teenager’s back, and some of them appeared to be bleeding. The affidavit also describes signs of internal bleeding on her lower left calf, which she said came from the incident. Police said the injuries were consistent with being hit by a jump rope.
The bottom of her shirt was wet. Asked why, she said she had urinated during the workout because her father would not let her stop.
The girl reportedly plays basketball at Shoreline Middle School in Provo. Accounts of the incident say that when she could not complete the routine, her father grew angry, picked up a black plastic jump rope and struck her three times. She reportedly tried to get away but could not.
The father’s account
Peter James Reid, 35, was not at home when officers first arrived, but he later came back to the property and spoke to them privately. The affidavit says he admitted yelling at his daughter for refusing to finish the workout and hitting her with the rope. He also described how she hid behind a workout machine before he caught up to her, and she curled into a fetal position as he struck her. He said he then left the house to "cool off."
He told police his daughter trains twice a day, five to six days a week, with Sundays off. On the day in question, he wanted her to do 15 squats with a 115-pound barbell. He insisted she could squat 225 pounds but was struggling that day.
When asked about the urination, he said it was linked to heavy squats. According to the affidavit, he tried to explain that "women sometimes urinate when squatting heavy weights and that a towel had been placed on the ground to accommodate this." He said he could not remember injuring her calf or making any threats before the incident.
Where the case stands
Medical personnel examined the girl at the scene to assess her injuries. Once they had finished and the teenager was cleared to leave with them, Reid was taken into custody.
He was charged on Tuesday with aggravated child abuse, a first-degree felony. He is being held at Utah County Jail without the possibility of bond. The details come from a police affidavit, and the allegations have not yet been tested in court.
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Source: Daily Express US
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