Inset, left to right: Ronald Flack and Sarah Flack (Tuscaloosa County Jail). The Tuscaloosa County Jail in Alabama (Google Maps).
A 45-year-old father and a 37-year-old mother in Alabama are accused of assaulting two of their children, allegedly beating them with a belt and fists — with one victim saying the abuse went on for up to three hours — after they were caught playing with a hose while doing their chores.
Ronald Earl Flack and his wife, Sarah Marie Flack, were taken into custody Tuesday and charged with two counts each of child abuse with torture in connection with the alleged incident.
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The investigation into the couple began when a Tuscaloosa County school resource officer on Oct. 28 contacted the Northport Police Department to report a possible child abuse incident involving a student, Tuscaloosa Thread reported. The student allegedly told a teacher that she and her sister had been attacked and severely beaten by their parents the day before. That teacher then notified the resource officer.
The girls, whose ages were not disclosed, were outside their house cleaning as part of their chores when the older sister came over to help her younger sibling, who has a physical disability.
The older sister accidentally splashed water from the hose on her sibling and the two began giggling and splashing water on each other, AL.com reported, citing court documents. That’s when Sarah Flack came out of the house with a belt and began whipping the younger girl’s bottom, the court documents say.
The older child reportedly took the belt away from her mother, who went back inside to tell Ronald Flack. The girl later told investigators she did not believe her sister should be punished just for playing with the hose, Patch.com reported.
Ronald Flack reportedly “stormed” outside, took the belt back and slapped the older daughter in the face. The parents then went inside with the younger child, allegedly locking the older girl outside.
The older girl said she used a security code to get back into the home through a side door and found her sister in a heap on the floor, saying it was “like her mother had slapped her to the ground,” according to AL.com.
The older girl said she was then physically assaulted by both Ronald and Sarah Flack, to the point where “she started gagging and dry-heaving” until she “was able to stumble away from her parents.” The parents allegedly struck the older girl repeatedly over the next two or three hours.
Both children had visible bruises on their faces at school the following day. The older child also allegedly suffered a split lip.
Authorities went to the family’s home and spoke with Sarah Flack, who provided a written statement in which she allegedly acknowledged giving the girls a “whoopin'” for horsing around instead of doing their chores. She reportedly admitted that she slapped the girls with an open hand.
However, detectives said photographs of the victims’ injuries were “not consistent with injuries from being just slapped” and appeared to be caused by closed-fist punches.
All four children were reportedly removed from the home and the parents were arrested and processed at the Tuscaloosa County Jail. They remained in detention on $30,000 cash bonds, records show.
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