Father of the year voting in Tulsa, Oklahoma just got a little more interesting with the entry of William Todd Lewallen. Lewallen is charged with child abuse by neglect for locking his 18 month old little girl in a dog cage while he elected to nap with the help of narcotic pain killers and muscle relaxers. Lewallen is also said to have locked his 4 year old out of his home in temperatures in the low 40s.
Were Lewallen’s case in Florida he would be facing similar charges and potentially more. No doubt Lewallen would be charged with a count of Aggravated Child Abuse per Florida Statute 827.03(1)(a) and 827.03(2)(a). Florida accounts for this exact scenario, making the act of willfully and unlawfully caging a child a first degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, in addition to many unpleasant evenings with new found Department of Corrections friends.
Along with Aggravated Child Abuse charges, Will the thrill would face Child Abuse by Neglect charges for negligently failing to provide his 4 year old with shelter and supervision, a third degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. If the State could prove Lewallen purposefully locked the 4 year old out of his house in low temperatures or with the expectation of low temperatures, the State could make a third degree felony count of Child Abuse by showing the act of locking the door as an “intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child.”
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