Left: Lance Rachel Sr. Right: Kimberly Rachel (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office).
A 42-year-old Florida man and his 35-year-old wife are behind bars after he allegedly became so enraged about a displaced couch cushion that he beat and berated a 12-year-old child for nearly a half hour.
Lance Rachel Sr. is facing a charge of aggravated child abuse and battery by strangulation while Kimberly Rachel is in jail for failing to report said abuse, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. The alleged abuse occurred on Dec. 7 at a home in Kissimmee, which is near Orlando.
Lance Rachel “was angry about a couch cushion being displaced and accused the victim of lying,” deputies said. “The suspect maliciously punished the child by screaming obscenities and physically abusing the victim over the course of 28 minutes.”
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Home surveillance video captured some of the incident, per a probable cause arrest affidavit.
Lance Rachel took out a belt and hit the boy more than 50 times, according to cops. He also allegedly choked the victim and called him “several disparaging names” and shouted other obscenities. Some of the names included “‘b—-, p—-, n—–, f—ing b—-, d— sucker’ and even at one point told him to ‘suck d–k’ while taking both of his hands and hitting it against his crotch,” the affidavit said.
He also allegedly threatened to break the boy’s jaw and told him he was not allowed to sleep in a bed. The boy suffered injuries to his arm where he apparently had been struck with the belt, cops noted. The video did not show the belt strikes but they could be heard via the audio, the affidavit said.
Cops started investigating on Dec. 11 after receiving word about the alleged abuse from other family members who saw the video. The boy confirmed the alleged abuse to detectives and said he “was hit a lot but didn’t count how many times.” The boy also said Lance Rachel hits the other younger children, ages 2 and 3, in the house.
A doctor reportedly concluded that “due to the repeated spurning, physical attacks and depriving the child of sleep, the child’s ‘discipline’ was done in a torturous manner.”
Lance Rachel allegedly admitted to the abuse during an interview with detectives on Monday. Investigators also spoke to Kimberly Rachel about the incident. She allegedly told detectives she had seen the video of the abuse. When asked if she counted the belt strikes, she said she “stopped counting after reaching 15,” the affidavit said. She “shook her head” when the detective told her it was 51 times.
Both were arrested and taken to the Osceola County Jail. Lance Rachel is in jail without a bond while his wife has a $5,000 bond.
