Man beat 3-year-old because boy didn’t want to work on his ABCs, warrant claims

3 hours ago

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

WACO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) – The U.S. Army sergeant charged in the harsh beating of a 3-year-old Texas boy told police he struck the child because he didn’t want to work on his ABCs, according to an arrest warrant.

Paul Thames, 29, is charged with injury to a child and remained at the McLennan County Jail on a federal detainer as of Monday afternoon.

The alleged assault was first brought to authorities’ attention when Ring doorbell camera footage taken Friday began circulating on social media. The video showed a man, later identified by Waco Police as Thames, picking up a 3-year-old boy by the neck and viciously striking him on the back, the arrest warrant states.

Paul Thames, 29, is charged with injury to a child after he was allegedly caught on Ring doorbell camera footage beating a 3-year-old boy. (KWTX GRAPHIC)

During their investigation, police interviewed Thames to ask why he was allegedly beating the boy. He told police the 3-year-old did not want to work on his ABCs, and that is why he took the boy out of the apartment to be disciplined, according to the warrant.

Thames said he had just moved in with the child’s mother “a few months ago.”

Police wrote in the warrant that a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera recorded Thames punching the victim on the back multiple times with “excessive force.” He then “picked up the victim by the back of his neck and placed his hands over the victim’s mouth,” the warrant alleges.

During the video, the boy can be heard crying in pain, and Thames asks him, “Are you going to stop playing?”

According to the warrant, Thames “admitted to going overboard and understood that what he did was not right.” Police say he apologized to the 3-year-old.

The warrant states the boy’s mother was working inside the apartment when Thames took her son outside. The suspect allegedly told police he didn’t tell the mother about the alleged beating.

“The only reason this offense was known to have occurred was based on the [Ring] video provided,” wrote police in the warrant.

The victim was treated at a Waco hospital due to pain on his neck, according to the warrant. Police say he was seen by medical personnel and released.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson with the 1st Cavalry Division confirmed Thames is a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, about 80 miles south of Waco.

“We are aware of the arrest of Sgt. Paul Thames for abuse of a child. The 1st Cavalry Division is in communication with law enforcement. We are disgusted by the video that has been posted,” the official said. “The behavior of Sgt. Thames does not reflect the values of the 1st Cavalry Division or the U.S. Army.”

For more national stories, click here.