MONROE — Police have arrested four people suspected of beating children with a wooden paddle that bore the names of some of the kids who were hit so hard they bruised.
Seven children, between the ages of 10 months and 16, were taken into protective custody late last week. They have since been placed with relatives.
Some of the kids told investigators they were beaten with the wooden paddle and others said they’d also been punched and slapped, according to court records made available Wednesday. Monroe police recovered the paddle. It was made of plywood and measured 2 feet long and 5 inches wide.
One of the suspects said the paddle was made by a 35-year-old man who lived in the apartment with his girlfriend, her two children, 13 and 16, and the woman’s ex-husband.
Another couple also lived in the three-bedroom apartment, along with their five children.
Investigators were told the paddle broke when one of the moms was beating her boyfriend’s 12-year-old daughter. A 5-year-old girl claimed the man they called uncle, but isn’t related to them, fixed the paddle. The handle was reinforced with another piece of wood, screws and duct tape.
The man is accused of making the weapon and using it to beat several children, including the neighbor’s teenage daughters, who are developmentally delayed.
He was arrested April 6 and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of fourth- and third-degree assault. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
A man and a woman — parents of some of the children — were arrested Tuesday at Denney Juvenile Justice Center, where there was a dependency hearing involving their children.
They made a brief appearance from jail Wednesday in Everett District Court. A deputy prosecutor told Judge Anthony Howard that the case remains under investigation and because of that she wasn’t opposed to the couple being released without bail. Howard agreed to release them but ordered the couple not to have contact with their minor children.
They have one child in common, a 10-month-old boy. The woman, 22, has three other children, ages 2, 4 and 5. Her boyfriend, 37, has a 12-year-old girl.
Their lawyer said Wednesday the couple planned to stay with his parents.
Monroe police arrested the fourth suspect, a 48-year-old woman, Wednesday afternoon. She was expected to be booked.
The case came to the attention of Child Protective Services and Monroe police last week. A 13-year-old girl complained to a teacher that her buttocks hurt from being spanked by a neighbor, Monroe police detective Barry Hatch said.
Monroe police officer Paul Henderson met with CPS staff April 6 at the apartment on Killarney Circle, where he was told about two allegations of abuse. Police and social workers conducted a welfare check on the children.
As they approached, one of the suspects came out of the apartment carrying a large, wooden paddle with children’s names written on it. She was stopped and claimed that she was bringing it to police, Henderson wrote in an affidavit. Officers noted that she walked past them and appeared to be headed toward the dumpster.
Officers contacted the suspects’ neighbor, whose 13-year-old daughter had reported being beaten with the paddle. Police were told that a neighbor, the man accused of making the paddle, had pulled the girl’s pants down and hit her. The girl had bruising on her buttocks, according to court papers.
She told investigators the suspect had called her names when he was beating her.
The man allegedly admitted to spanking the girl and her twin sister, Henderson wrote. He also admitted knowing that they are developmentally disabled. He claimed he “used some force” on one of the girls.
CPS and police took the seven children living with the suspects into protective custody. They interviewed the oldest ones, who reported being beaten by multiple adults.
A 12-year-old explained that she was forced to stand in a corner where adults would scream at her. She said that if they were “really, really, really mad at her, they would hit her with the paddle,” Henderson wrote.
She told investigators that when she was hit with the paddle she would scream and she couldn’t sit down for a long time, according to court papers. She said she’d been hit in the arm and back, too.
The girl said the adults would hide the paddle around the apartment, afraid the police would find it. She also told police she’d seen her mother use the paddle to spank a 3-year-old girl, the granddaughter of their neighbor.
A 5-year-old girl reported she’d been beaten by her mom, her mom’s boyfriend and a woman living with them. She told investigators she’d seen her 2-year-old brother being hit with the wooden paddle.
A 4-year-old girl said she’d been punched by some of the adults. She told investigators “getting beat” hurt so bad that she couldn’t breathe.
There is some history with CPS at the location, Hatch said. The alleged abuse might have been going on since last year, he added.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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