Mathew Kowald got upset at his young son when he refused to wear a Green Bay Packers jersey - so Kowald tied him up and taped a jersey on him!
Sheriff's Lt. Wayne Smith said Mathew Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct for the incident involving his 7-year-old son at their home in Pardeeville this past weekend. Kowald was accused of restraining the boy for an hour with tape and also taping a jersey onto him during that time.
The father was arrested on Monday after his wife called authorities. Kowald was taken to the county jail and held until Wednesday, when he pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $186 and was released.
(Seems like there was a bit of a domestic issue going on there as well - did the wife report him just so he could get in trouble?) http://www.channel3000.com/news/15063175/detail.html# - via Deadspin
Erm, do you think maybe the wife reported him because he was abusing their son?
I know it's a long shot but I can't help but consider it as a possibility
The guy used tape to restrain his son. His 7-year old son. That's abusive. If he's able to do that to a kid, don't you think he's capable of retaliating against his wife for reporting the abuse?
I'd say she was damn brave to report him.
What I find incredible is that he was charged with "disorderly conduct" instead of child abuse. $186 is a wink and a nod as far as I am concerned. He should spend time in jail for what he did to that kid.
Of course, he's free now, and pissed. The wife and the kid are in danger, IMO.
And you think she reported him just to get him in trouble? Rethink, Alex.
“could the wife just reported him so he could get in trouble?”... the only thing worse than sexism is grammatically awkward sexism.
Child abuse is a serious matter. I get that. And I also get that abuse doesn't have to be the physical kind to cause harm to a child.
BUT, if you read the article, you'll see that there were also "other domestic issues." This is a red flag for me that there may be more to this story.
One of the easiest way to get your spouse in trouble, in the heat of a domestic altercation, is to call the cops on him or her. One of my neighbors did this to each other when they were fighting. Over stupid stuff - and the cops knew it, but they had to respond.
Later on, both used these incidents as weapons against each other in the divorce and the child custody proceeding.
I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case here too. Note: "Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said there wasn't enough evidence against the father to support felony charges. She said there is no physical injury to the child and that there is no evidence to warrant further evaluation of any emotional damage."
False. Imprisonment.
Wow. I know it was dismissed, but that seems like such a trumped up charge. You could get the same for grounding a kid to his room and locking the door with that logic.
Of course, no one here knows all the details, but for skepticism's sake, is not possible the wife is vindictively trying to set up a case against the husband for use in divorce court? She could be playing on the common sympathies today that lead people to automatically suspect a man of wrong-doing, particularly in the arena of child abuse.
I will say upfront that having been an in house volunteer at a women's shelter for 3 1/2 years colours my view. I know that.
The article implies that the husband and wife are not living together. The wife filed a restraining order to keep him from seeing the children.
It sounds like there's an ongoing situation, and that the wife could very possibly have exaggerated or misconstrued the situation. That's not a sexist thing to say.
All in all, tying up the kid is still a weird thing to do.
BUT even if this is the first incident (or first reported), this type of behavior can and will escalate.