Keith Holt and Candy Holt mug shots and body camera screenshot (Blackwater Police Dept.),
A pastor in Oklahoma and his wife have been arrested for allegedly abusing and neglecting their eight children, beating them with a wooden board and locking them in small rooms for days while depriving them of food and water. Keith Holt and Candy Holt were taken into custody earlier this month and charged with multiple crimes, court records obtained by Law&Crime show.
Keith Holt is facing three counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect while his wife was charged with three counts of enabling child abuse and one count of child neglect.
Police said the couple’s eight children range in age from 2 to 17 years old.
According to a probable cause affidavit, child welfare workers contacted police regarding multiple referrals of the children being physically abused by the Holts, specifically, a 14-year-old female in the home referred to in the document as “T.S.” and a 14-year-old male referred to a “J.C.H.” Photos allegedly showed the female with severe bruising and a video allegedly showed J.C.H. saying his father had “punched him and thrown him down the stairs.”
Officers on Jan. 16 went to the home and spoke with T.S., who opened up about the alleged physical abuse.
“Once we were alone, T.S. began telling us that she was getting beaten by Keith and Candy (Holt), and she showed us her arms and legs, which were covered in bruises,” the affidavit states. “She said that Keith would hit her with a wooden board, and she retrieved a board from behind the TV in the living room. The board she retrieved is 3/4 inch thick, 2 1/4 inches wide, and 28 inches long.”
The Holts were subsequently arrested and all eight children were placed into the custody of the state.
During a forensic interview at the Dearing House Child Advocacy Center, T.S. provided additional details about the alleged abuse.
“During the interview, T.S. said that Keith hits her on her arms and legs with both a belt and the board that she referred to as a 2×2,” the document states. “She had washed the makeup off her face, and she had bruising around her left eye. She said that it was from when Keith was hitting her, and her face hit the wail. She said that whenever Keith gets mad, he will hit them with the belt or 2×2, which usually starts at the waist and goes down the legs. ”
A 16-year-old female in the house also discussed being beaten with the 2×2 and belt, saying Keith Holt would “whip them for reasons that shouldn’t require whipping,” such as not having the “clothes figured out” for the three youngest children, ages 2, 3, and 5.
“(The 16-year-old) described being locked in the bathroom for (3) days within the last couple of months because someone at their church said that she said they were bad parents,” police wrote. “While locked in the bathroom, she was not allowed food or water. She said that T.S. snuck her some crackers and a bottle of water. She said the worst whipping she has received recently was (30) whips with the belt at one time.”
Other alleged incidents included T.S. allegedly being struck about 40 times because Candy Holt couldn’t find her makeup and accused the child of taking it.
In a post-Miranda interview with police, Candy Holt allegedly said that the children were “honest” and that “if they said these things happened to them, then she believed them,” but ultimately “denied be present while the beatings were taking place.” She said it was possible her husband beat the kids when she wasn’t around and denied that any child was locked in the bathroom for days.
Keith Holt allegedly denied hitting the children anywhere “other than their butt.” However, he later said that it was possible “he hits the kids so much that he doesn’t remember each incident.”
“He also said that it is possible that when he spanks them, he ‘blacks out’ and doesn’t know how many or how hard he hits them,” the affidavit states. “Keith claimed that the children must be lying but could not say what their motivation would be to suddenly start lying and to make these types of allegations. He denied the child being locked in the bathroom for (3) days but did admit there is a lock outside the upstairs bathroom.”
The Holts were booked into the Kay County Jail on $100,000 bond each. They are both scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning.
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