Background: The Legend Apartments in Waco, Texas (Google Maps). Inset left: Paul Thames (McLennan County Sheriff’s Office/KWTX). Inset right: Ring footage of Thames appearing to assault a child (Waco Police Dept./KWTX).
A 29-year-old Army sergeant in Texas who was caught on a neighbor’s Ring camera beating his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son with a closed fist and lifting the child by the neck has been sentenced to prison.
Military Judge Jeremy D. Broussard sentenced Sgt. Paul A. Thames to one year in prison and a bad-conduct discharge from the U.S. Army for the attack, the Army announced.
Broussard handed down the sentence after Thames pleaded guilty to domestic violence during his court-martial earlier this month. Thames received credit for 181 days of confinement served before trial.
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Thames also faces a separate, pending felony charge of injury to a child in Texas, stemming from the same incident. He was indicted on that charge in February and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, KWTX reported.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Thames was babysitting his girlfriend’s son at her apartment in Waco on the evening of Jan. 16, 2026, when a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera recorded him physically abusing the child.
The footage reportedly showed Thames picking up the child and hitting him at least five times in the torso with a closed fist, then picking him up by the head and neck.
The neighbor notified the Waco Police Department, and responding officers took Thames into custody.
During an interview with a Waco police detective, Thames admitted he “went overboard” while disciplining the child. In court during his Oct. 7 court-martial at the Lawrence Williams Judicial Center, Thames acknowledged using excessive force when striking the boy.
Capt. Kristyn Dial, a prosecutor with the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel’s Fifth Circuit, released a statement about the outcome of the case.
“This case represented holding a Soldier accountable for his domestic violence assault that went far beyond any acceptable level of parental discipline,” the statement said. “The prosecution was significant to protect a young child and hold a Soldier accountable for causing harm to someone in the most vulnerable population.”
Thames, an automated logistics specialist assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, is being held at the Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, while awaiting orders to transfer to a military confinement facility.
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