An Indiana police officer faces criminal charges after allegedly forcing a 6-year-old girl in his care to stand outside in the cold holding a sign that said "I Want to Stab and Kill My Brother."
Logansport Police Officer Cody Scott and his wife Kylie have pleaded not guilty to neglect charges, Fox 59 reported. Scott also has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation.
The sign holding was meant to be a punishment for the child, and it was not the first time such a tactic was used, Fox 59 reported, citing a probable cause affidavit. One sign reportedly read, "I pee on everything and cover it up like a cat." The station also reported the girl allegedly carried a sign around Walmart that stated, "I lie to hurt other people."
The case unfolded when resident Rebecca Gibbs saw the girl standing outside in cold temperatures holding a sign that said: "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 Pharos-Tribune reported.
Gibbs told the newspaper that at first she thought the girl was selling hot cocoa. When she read the sign, Gibbs parked, got out and talked to the girl. She said the little girl was crying. She described the child as shivering uncontrollably.
Gibbs called the police and specifically asked that it not be officer Scott, but Scott is the one who showed up to his own house, the Pharos-Tribune reported.
"Of course, the first officer to show up on the scene was her father. He responded to a call at his house," Gibbs told the newspaper. "I basically told him 'I'm refusing to talk to you. You're condoning this. You're a piece of trash in my eyes.'"
According to Fox 59, Gibbs was not the only person to stop and multiple people ended up contacting law enforcement. Also, the arrest affidavit cites an interaction between Scott and passerby that allegedly was caught on a body camera.
"Well, sir, aside from me cruelly beating her physically. I've not done any other punishment that's worked for her," Scott said, according to a transcription in the affidavit quoted by Fox 59. "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 DCS caseworker involved, she's been in therapy for three years, she also has the wrap around program at school. She goes in every 30 minutes to warm back up, she's bundled up very warm and then she'll come back out."
