LOGANSPORT, Ind. (Gray News) – A police officer and his wife in Indiana were arrested after they allegedly made their daughter stand outside in freezing temperatures holding a cruel sign as “punishment.”
Officer Cody Scott and his wife, Kylie Scott, are both charged with two counts of felony neglect of a dependent.
On Jan. 19, a woman called police to report a little girl standing out in the cold with a sign by the road.
The little girl was the Scotts’ 6-year-old daughter. At the time, the temperature was 18 degrees outside.
The sign allegedly read, “I want to stab and Kill my brother – I even take an antipsychotic – If you need to give pity – then give it to the victims.”
Officer Scott arrived at the scene with his supervisor. Body camera footage allegedly showed the caller saying to Scott, “this baby is standing out here in the freezing cold with a sign.”
“Yup, she comes out here every 30 minutes, and she goes back inside every 10 minutes to warm back up,” Scott said, according to WTHR.
While they were speaking, another man pulled up and also expressed his fear for the girl.
“Well sir, aside from me cruelly beating her physically,” Scott replied, “I’ve not done any other punishment that has worked for her.”
Scott reportedly told the 911 caller that the girl had been taken to a hospital twice and that the girl had been “kicked out.”
“I threatened to not pick her up,” Scott is recorded telling the 911 caller. “They said they would call DCS on me for abandonment.”
While the case happened in Cass County, a Howard County case worker took the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
The case worker said this wasn’t the first time the girl was made to hold a sign. In one incident, her parents made her carry a sign to school that said, “I pee on everything and cover it up like a cat.”
The school also reported the girl also was made to carry a sign at Walmart that read, “I lie to hurt other people.”
Following a unanimous vote, Officer Scott was placed on unpaid administrative leave, WSBT reported.
The couple appeared in court on March 13 and pleaded not guilty.
Both are due back in court on May 8 for a pretrial conference, and a trial date has been set for Sept. 22.
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