Choctaw Man Accused Of Burning 12-Year-Old With Flat Iron


Choctaw, OK — Oklahoma City prosecutors have charged a Choctaw man after he burned his girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter with a flat iron.

Forty-one-year-old Richard Frederick Joyce has been charged with one count of child abuse.

According to court documents, on September 14, the seventh grader told a counselor at Choctaw Middle School that Joyce had clamped a flat iron on her arm because he wanted to teach her a lesson about leaving it on.

The counselor told police that another student had witnessed the abuse.

Court documents say that investigators saw signs of “obvious injuries.”

An investigator wrote, “I also noticed a very obvious burn on the student’s right forearm.”

Joyce’s attorney said that his client was a veteran who had never been in trouble with the law.

Ryan Hearne said, “He’s a veteran of the Iraq War. He served this country in the Air Force and had an honorable discharge.”

Hearne added, “He wanted me to come forward and at least, let everyone know that he’s not a child abuser. The facts that will come out in this case will show that my client isn’t a child abuser.”

Joyce apparently had no idea that he had been charged until KOCO came to his home and showed him court documents. He denied the allegations against him and his attorney said he had evidence that the girl was lying about the abuse.

The victim and her sister have been placed in protective custody. There is no mention of whether or not the victim’s mother will also be charged.

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