Air Force lieutenant colonel arrested for child abuse
Air Force lieutenant colonel arrested for child abuse
By ANGEL McCURDY / Daily News
Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 13:25 PM.
NICEVILLE — A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force was arrested Saturday and charged with several counts of child abuse toward his two adopted children.
Dennis E. Jack, 41, was arrested two weeks after his wife, 41-year-old Tiffany J. Jack, was charged with aggravated child abuse and cruelty toward a child, according to his Niceville Police arrest report.
Jack works at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and commutes from the Ohio base to his home in Niceville, according to Daryl Mayer, chief of current operations with the 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs at Wright-Patterson AFB.
One of Jack’s children told investigators that the two adopted 7-year-old girls were forced to do “calisthenics punishment” where they had to place their toes on the kitchen counter, holding their own weight while their hands were on a pink car.
During the punishment, the girls had to wear soiled diapers on their head for 15 minutes, the report states.
The child said it was “dad’s idea” and said Jack told them “it actually makes you stronger,” according to the report. One of the children called the abuse the “pink car punishment” and said Jack used to situate the girls upside down for their punishment.
Another report of abuse from a child detailed Jack’s use of spanking the children with a hand or metal spatula. The child told investigators “spatula hurts” and said the two 7-year-olds were hit with the spatula on the top of their feet, according to the arrest report.
Officials arrested Tiffany Jack on Nov. 17 for similar acts of child abuse. According to her Niceville Police arrest report, Tiffany forced the children to sit on the toilet for days and made them run until they vomited as forms of punishment.
During the investigation, one of the children said that Jack trained three of his children on “interrogation” techniques prior to being interviewed by officials.
The children said, “They (mom and dad) don’t want us talking about the bad stuff,” the report states.
According to Mayer with Wright-Patterson AFB, Jack will be on leave in Florida pending the results of his case.
“While the Air Force takes seriously all pending civilian investigations and charges against our members, we recognize that all members have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mayer said in a prepared statement. “Air Force investigators are actively working with civilian authorities in this matter.”
Jack was charged with four counts of cruelty toward a child and three counts of tampering with evidence.
He was released Saturday on $4,000 bond.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn