Wymore man arrested for child abuse
March 22, 2011
WYMORE - A Wymore man was arrested Friday for felony child abuse.
John Hintz, 44, allegedly used discipline methods that could physically and mentally affect the child.
According to court documents, the Gage County Sheriff’s Office received a report from the Department of Health and Human Services in regards to a child under the adopted care of Hintz.
The report began when the 7-year-old child had received a pink slip from a teacher at Southern Elementary in Blue Springs for stealing a candy bar.
Hintz received notification of the pink slip and allegedly proceeded to discipline the child by making him do push ups with closed fists on a rock surface. The child did the push ups while Hintz placed his foot on the child’s back.
When the child could no longer do push ups, Hintz allegedly grabbed him by the hair and neck and pulled him up. The young boy was then forced to run laps around Hintz’s shop until he was sweating, breathing hard and his legs ached.
When he stopped running, Hintz allegedly grabbed the child by the hair and pulled it to the point he was dragging the child along.
The report also stated that the child was only given a piece of plain bread and a glass of water for dinner the night before.
A sheriff’s deputy spoke with the child and the child confirmed the allegations against Hintz. The deputy observed the child’s knuckles to be red with scratches and cuts. He also had scratches on his back and chest and blisters on both feet from running.
The child was immediately placed in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Hintz admitted to all the allegations against him in regards to his discipline of the child for stealing the candy bar.
In a previous abuse and neglect report filed by Southern Elementary, it stated that on Feb. 10, both of the child’s adopted parents met with school personnel and told school officials they no longer wanted the child to have treats or rewards because they felt the sugar was affecting his behavior.
According to the court documents, the child was adopted by the Hintz family in November. He had been abused by his biological parents and has been in 14 different foster homes prior to being adopted.
Court documents say that on Feb. 23, the child was forced to eat all of his Valentine’s Day candy when the Hintzs found out he stole a granola bar from a classmate.
The child said his mom crunched up all the candy with a hammer and put it in a bowl. The child said Hintz told him “I’m going to make it so you never want to eat candy again.”
The child said he had to eat all the candy and drink 10 glasses of Dr. Pepper, but was only able to drink five glasses before vomiting. The boy told authorities his dad told him he would hit him if he threw up on him.
He was then forced to run more laps around the shop and then clean up his own vomit with a rag and water.
Child abuse is a class IIIA felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. A $3,000 bond was set for Hintz.