A 29-year-old U.S. Army sergeant, who was seen allegedly beating a 3-year-old Waco, Texas, boy, informed police that his actions stemmed from the minor not wanting to work on his ABCs.
Per KWTX, the soldier in question was identified as Paul Thames, and the incident happened at the Legend Apartments at 2400 Corporation Parkway on January 16.
The alleged assault was captured on a Ring doorbell camera, and the footage was made available to police upon arrival. In the footage, a man grabs a toddler’s neck to pick him up and hits the minor’s back, the warrant states.
Police said Thames was identified as the man in the video, adding that officers asked him to explain his actions. Thames said that he had been staying with the toddler and his mother for just “a few months” at the time of the incident.
Thames stated that he took the boy outdoors to discipline him because he did not want to work on his ABCs, the warrant states. At the time that Thames was outside the apartment with the toddler, his mother was indoors and working.
The incident was captured on a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera, police said in the warrant, adding that Thames used “excessive force” to repeatedly hit the 3-year-old in the back, KWTX reported.
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Per the warrant, Thames subsequently “picked up the victim by the back of his neck and placed his hands over the victim’s mouth.”
“Are you going to stop playing?” Thames asks the toddler as he’s heard crying in the video. The warrant states that Thames “admitted to going overboard and understood that what he did was not right.”
Police also said that Thames apologized to the minor and informed them that he did not disclose his action’s to the minor’s mother.
The minor suffered a neck pain and was treated at a hospital before he was discharged. Thames was ultimately arrested and charged with injury to a child.
A 1st Cavalry Division spokesperson told KWTX that Thames is stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
“We are aware of the arrest of Sgt. Paul Thames for abuse of a child. The 1st Cavalry Division is in communication with law enforcement. We are disgusted by the video that has been posted,” the official said. “The behavior of Sgt. Thames does not reflect the values of the 1st Cavalry Division or the U.S. Army.”
