An Idaho couple was caught on security cameras abusing their 7-year-old daughter during a fimly trip to an aquarium last month, and now they’re facing felony charges.
Court documents say the abuse took place at the East Idaho Aquarium in Idaho Falls on February 8, East Idaho News reports. The footage shows Megan Anne Olpin, 31, hitting the girl in the face with a shoe and dragging her through the facility.
Zachary Royce Olpin, 30, was seen slamming the girl’s head into an electrical box before he dragged her off the property.
An Idaho Falls Police detective also spoke with the little girl’s grandmother, who showed photographs of the child with multiple bruises and marks. The girl had also told her grandmother that her mother hit in on the mouth.
Zachary Olpin told investigators that what was caught on the video cameras was an accident, and he had no idea the child’s head hit the electrical box. Megan Olpin admitted hitting the girl with a shoe and also said she hit her with a set of keys when they were in the car.
Detectives made arrangements for the girl to stay with her grandmother while they continued their investigation.
Police obtained the full security video — they had previously only seen snippets recorded by an officer on a cell phone — and saw that the mother hit the child multiple times with the shoe and knocked her to the ground. The father was seen shoving the girl down by the mouth when she tried to get up and the carrying out of the aquarium.
Once outside, he was seen slamming the girl’s head into a wooden structure and then using his shoulder to push her head into a metal box three times.
A few days later, investigators again interviewed the couple. By that time, the father said he had been out of line and had written an apology letter, as had the mother.
A week later, child advocates interviewed the girl, who said that her mother had “bonked her head with a shoe and that her father kept “bonking” her head because he was mad. She also said her mother used a key to scratch her arm.
Zachary Olpin was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of injury to a child. Megan Olpin was charged with the same counts, plus a felony county of aggravated battery. Both are scheduled to appeared in court on March 24.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Megan and Zachary Olpin/Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office]
