Teacher is accused of child abuse
CHANDLER (AP) -- A Stroud teacher and her husband have been charged with child abuse following a claim by their children that their mother beat her adopted daughter.
Beth Marie Houtz and Douglas Allen Houtz, both 42 and of Stroud, each were charged with one count of child abuse Friday in Lincoln County District Court.
Stroud Police Chief Lucky Miller said Beth Houtz was arrested Dec. 23 after her daughters, ages 15 and 18, told police about the abuse of their 14-year-old sister.
Court records show that the 18-year-old said Beth Houtz repeatedly kicked the 14-year-old in the face Dec. 22 after ordering her to pick up trash from the floor. The teenager said the blows broke her sister's glasses and bloodied her nose.
"It's a real Cinderella story," Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Clayton Niemeyer said. "The girls say their mother never abused them, but was always after their adopted sister."
Niemeyer said the siblings saw their mother hold the 14-year-old's head under water, beat her with hangers and kitchen utensils, restrain the girl and punch her in the face.
The 14-year-old told police that Beth Houtz recently hit her in the head with a hammer while they were fixing a backyard fence, he said.
According to court records, police reported that the 14-year-old had a bruised cheek and a gash on her head when they visited her home Dec. 23. She gave police the rag she used on her bloody nose, her broken glasses and a hammer that Beth Houtz reportedly struck her with, records show.
Beth Houtz was arrested that day and released from jail on $5,000 bail.
Douglas Houtz was arrested Friday and released from jail on $5,000 bail.
The girls told police that their father knew about the abuse but wouldn't do anything about it.
Miller said Beth Houtz has been on a leave of absence from Stroud Public Schools since the beginning of the school year. School district officials could not be reached for comment.
Miller said child-welfare workers removed the children from the home.