Hilton Head vacationer faces charges after slapping 8-year-old across face with flip-flop
A Hilton Head Island vacationer faces a child abuse charge after police said he repeatedly hit an 8-year-old in the face with his hands and a flip-flop last week and slammed the child onto a bench near Coligny Beach, according to a police report.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office charged the 26-year-old Tennessee man on Thursday with one count of cruelty to children, which is a misdemeanor in South Carolina.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette typically do not name those charged with misdemeanors.
After 12:30 p.m., deputies arrived at the Coligny Beach Park and spoke with two witnesses who said they saw a young child screaming at the beach and then his father being abusive toward him.
A deputy spoke with the Tennessee man and his partner, the child’s mother. The report said the child was 8 years old and had been recently diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He was prone to act up and throw tantrums as a result.
At the beach, his mother said, he began having a fit and throwing sand at his parents. The parents made no mention of any abuse and said they walked back to the car. The Tennessee man said they used the flip flop as a distraction for the young boy.
Two witnesses, which included a Hilton Head town official, said that while the child was throwing a fit at the beach, the Tennessee man began to act abusive.
The man was carrying the child on his shoulder away from the beach, according to the report. The 8-year-old continued crying, and the man grew more angry, a witness said.
He began hitting the child “with his hands and with a flip flop while loudly swearing,” according to the report. The other witness said he was hitting the child in the face.
The town official told police that the man then “got behind (the child) and put him in a choke hold around his neck with his arm and lifted the boy in the air and slammed him on the wood bench.”
The official said he could hear the sound from 20 feet away while on the phone with 911.
Several other bystanders also went to the deputy to tell him they saw “abusive behavior” from the Tennessee man, according to the report.
The Tennessee man was charged and taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center. He was booked into jail around 3 p.m. and was released the following day.
If he is convicted of cruelty to children, the man could face up to 30 days in jail or fined up to $200.
