FORT WALTON BEACH — A 35-year-old Fort Walton Beach man was charged with three counts of felony child abuse after slapping and choking a child in his care.
The man also allegedly threw the child on the bed when he was angry with him, according to his Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The child told officials at his school that the man “hits, grabs, throws and chokes him,” the report said.
The man was angered because the child nearly overflowed the kitchen sink and, on another occasion, left a candy wrapper on the floor, the report said.
The child had three distinct red marks on his face that spanned form the middle of his cheek to the middle of his ear. They were the shape of a person’s fingers, investigators noted.
When the man was interviewed, he admitted to all of the offenses the child reported, according to his OCSO arrest report.
He said he was under a lot of stress, angry and was only trying to “redirect” the child. He said he wasn’t trying to hurt the child and knew what he did was wrong. He also said he knew he should have sought medical attention for the child.
The incidents occurred in November. The man was arrested on Jan. 25.
The Daily News is not naming the individual to protect the identity of the victim.
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