A 45-year-old father and a 37-year-old mother from Alabama are facing serious accusations of assaulting two of their children, allegedly using a belt and their fists during an incident that one victim claims lasted as long as three hours. The alleged abuse reportedly began after the children were discovered playing with a garden hose while they were supposed to be completing their household chores.
Ronald Earl Flack and his wife, Sarah Marie Flack, were taken into custody on Tuesday and each charged with two counts of child abuse with torture in connection with the alleged incident.
The investigation was initiated on October 28, when a school resource officer in Tuscaloosa County contacted the Northport Police Department to report a suspected child abuse case involving one of the students. The student had allegedly informed a teacher that she and her sister had been violently beaten by their parents the previous day, prompting the teacher to notify the resource officer.
The two girls, whose ages have not been publicly disclosed, were outside their home completing chores when the older sister approached to assist her younger sibling, who lives with a physical disability.
According to court documents, the older sister accidentally splashed water from the hose onto her younger sibling, after which the two children began laughing and playfully splashing each other. At that point, Sarah Flack reportedly exited the home carrying a belt and began striking the younger girl. Court documents indicate that the older child intervened and took the belt away from her mother, who then went back inside to inform Ronald Flack. The older girl later told investigators that she did not believe her sister deserved to be punished simply for playing with the hose.
Ronald Flack reportedly stormed outside, retrieved the belt, and struck the older daughter across the face. The parents then returned inside the home with the younger child, allegedly locking the older girl outside.
The older girl stated that she used a security code to re-enter the home through a side door, where she discovered her younger sister collapsed on the floor, describing the scene as though “her mother had slapped her to the ground.”
The older girl further stated that she was then physically assaulted by both Ronald and Sarah Flack to such a degree that “she started gagging and dry-heaving” before she “was able to stumble away from her parents.” The parents allegedly continued to strike the older girl repeatedly over the course of the next two to three hours.
Both children arrived at school the following day with visible bruising on their faces. The older child also reportedly sustained a split lip as a result of the alleged assault.
When authorities visited the family’s residence and spoke with Sarah Flack, she provided a written statement in which she allegedly admitted to giving the girls a “whoopin'” for neglecting their chores in favor of playing. She reportedly acknowledged slapping the girls with an open hand.
Investigators, however, noted that photographs of the children’s injuries were “not consistent with injuries from being just slapped” and appeared instead to be the result of closed-fist punches.
All four children in the household were subsequently removed from the home. Both parents were arrested and processed at the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where they remained held on $30,000 cash bonds, according to official records.
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