Indiana cop charged after forcing daughter, 6, to stand in freezing cold with threatening sign
An Indiana police officer is accused of forcing his six-year-old daughter to stand outside in freezing temperatures holding a sign threatening her brother as punishment for pouting because she was not allowed to wear lip gloss.
Logansport Police officer Cody Scott and his wife, Kylie Scott, were both charged with two counts of felony child neglect. The officer was also placed on leave, WTHR reported.
On Jan. 19, when it was only 18 degrees outside, a witness observed the girl standing outside with the sign and called 911.
"I want to stab and Kill my brother — I even take an antipsychotic — If you need to give pity — then give it to the victims," the sign read.
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But Scott responded to the scene — along with his supervisor — and spoke to the concerned witness.
"This baby is standing out here in the freezing cold with a sign," the caller said to Scott, body camera footage showed, according to WTHR.
Scott admitted to being responsible for the girl's treatment, but defended his actions.
"Yup, she comes out here every 30 minutes, and she goes back inside every 10 minutes to warm back up," he said.
While they were speaking, an "older male" pulled up and expressed concerns for the girl as well, asking Scott why she had to stay out in the cold with the threatening sign.
"Well sir, aside from me cruelly beating her physically, I've not done any other punishment that has worked for her," Scott said.
"She’s threatened to kill my family, she wants to embarrass us, she wants to urinate on herself and destroy things in the house. I have a [Department of Child Services] caseworker involved, she’s been in therapy for three years, she also has the wrap-around program at school," he added.
Scott told the 911 caller that his daughter had been taken to a hospital twice but was "kicked out."
"I threatened to not pick her up," Scott told the caller, noting that he relented after he was warned that the Department of Child Services would be notified of abandonment if he did not pick her up.
Scott's wife later told investigators that their daughter was forced to hold the sign because she pouted when she was told she could not wear lip gloss.
But this was not the first time the girl was required to hold a sign.
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The girl's caseworker said in one incident, her parents made her carry a sign to school that said, "I pee on everything and cover it up like a cat." Her school also reported that she was forced to carry a sign at Walmart that read, "I lie to hurt other people."
The girl's parents acknowledged that she suffers from behavioral disorders that require medications, which an investigator said appeared to be an attempt by the parents to justify their actions. But the investigator said this admission could make the alleged crime worse.
On Wednesday, the Logansport Board of Public Works voted to place Scott on leave without pay for the duration of the investigation.
The Logansport Police chief said they put Scott on leave and handed the investigation to the Indiana State Police "within hours" of the incident in January.