Three charged after shock collars allegedly used on "beaten and malnourished" children in Edmonton
Three people have been charged with more than 100 counts of violence for allegedly abusing children and pets both physically and emotionally for years.
Police say on Friday, December 1, EPS Child Protection members began investigating reports of significant child abuse being perpetrated by a 34-year-old Edmonton father, his 37-year-old common-law partner, and a 25-year-old male family member against the father’s six children and one grandchild ranging between ages two and 13.
The children were removed from the home the same day and police say on December 4, the children attended the Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre where they were interviewed, providing investigators with details surrounding prolonged physical and emotional abuse.
It was reported to police that the children were allegedly frequently beaten, strangled, and malnourished for years.
It’s alleged that the accused father regularly subjected the children to punishments whereby they were “forced to hold a painful physical position with their hands and feet on the floor for several hours,” police stated.
The accused father also allegedly used a shock collar to assault some of the children and also reportedly beat one of the family’s five dogs frequently with a broom handle and tortured it by poking it with a stick through the kennel cage.
Last Thursday, police went to the family’s south-side residence and arrested the three adults. The accused father and common-law partner are each facing 45 charges of aggravated assault, uttering threats, unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and animal cruelty offences. The other adult male family member is facing multiple charges of assault with a weapon and assault.
The names of the three accused are not being released to protect the identity of the children and a publication ban is also in place, per police.
The children are now safe and have been placed in foster care, and the dogs have also since been removed from the home.