Ezra & Kristie Hazell - Child Abuse of 5 y.o. - Date TBFather, stepmother arrested in beating of 5-year-old girl
Associated Press - October 5, 2007 7:15 AM ET
PHOENIX (AP) - A Mesa, Arizona, man has been arrested after telling police that he regularly beat his 5-year-old daughter with a military belt and a computer cord because she was disobedient.
Mesa police say 29-year-old Ezra Emanuel Hazell was taken into custody Tuesday and the girl's stepmother -- 25-year-old Kristie Marie Hazell -- also was arrested on suspicion of child abuse.
Ezra Hazell faces five counts of child abuse and is being held on a $10,000 bond.
Kristie Hazell is facing two counts of child abuse but has been released from jail.
Authorities say Ezra Hazell admitted beating his daughter while she was in a push-up position with her pants down because she wasn't doing her homework.
The girl had nearly 100 bruises on her back, legs, arms, buttocks and chest and investigators called it 1 of the five worst cases they have handled.
The probe began after the girl told her teacher and school nurse that her father and stepmother beat her with a belt almost daily.
The family moved to Mesa from Austin, Texas, in March.
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