Michael Zimmerman allegedly rubbed a dirty diaper filled with feces on his 3-year-old son’s face. The 36-year-old man has been charged in a Garfield County District Court on a solitary count of child abuse. Court records made available to Enid News summarized the findings of Enid Police Department Detective Tanner Austin when he was called to investigate a probable case of child abuse which occurred at an Oklahoma motel.
The detective in his report stated that a 3-year-old boy had feces rubbed on his face and also had bruises on his buttocks as well as thighs. Austin spoke to the boy’s mother about the incident and the mother of two confirmed that when she dropped off her son for a visitation weekend with his dad, he was not carrying any bruises.
According to the affidavit, the woman, who recently got a protective order against Zimmerman, knew something was off when her 5-year-old daughter was restless upon returning home from their weekend with their father. Later, when the mother was changing her son’s clothing, she saw the bruise. The woman said she asked her 3-year-old son what happened over the weekend, but he did not tell her anything.
According to the mom, it was his 5-year-old sister that told her what happened during their weekend stay with dad. The young girl said she was asleep in the motel room when a smacking sound woke her up and she saw her father using a diaper filled with feces to wipe her brother’s face. The girl who told the same story to investigators claimed she heard her brother apologize for pooping and promise not to do it again. In his own response, her 36-year-old father also promised not to lose his temper.
The mother, who took a photograph of her son’s bruise which showed he had been “struck more than once,” also shared some uncomfortable posts with investigators that her estranged husband had posted on social media. In one of the posts, Zimmerman quoted a Bible verse, “Persecute those whom deserve persecution. Prosecute those whom deceit and lie.”
This is not the first time that a parent would be resorting to extreme measures to discipline a child. In 2011, a 10-year-old boy died of dehydration after his father and stepmother deprived him of water for five days because he wet his bed. A report from the Dallas News revealed that Jonathan James was locked inside a room without air-conditioning and made to stand by the bedroom window where the sun was the harshest.
The Independent is also reporting that a 5-year-old boy was found dead in a street after his mother and step-father allegedly punished him for also wetting his bed. The boy was discovered stripped to his underwear with skull injuries and a broken nose.
