A Missouri man is accused of beating his teenage son, causing a seizure, because someone “answered the phone disrespectfully” when he called.
A probable cause affidavit reveals that Matthew Proctor, 41, faces charges of child abuse for allegedly striking the boy in the face multiple times and continuing the assault after he had fallen to the ground.
The heavily redacted document notes that the incident involved Proctor’s children from two different mothers. It states that the children were at one of the mother’s homes last Tuesday, preparing for an outing to the Kansas City theme park, Worlds of Fun.
Proctor reportedly became enraged over a phone call he placed to the house that morning and, feeling disrespected, declared he was on his way to take his kids and would “beat” someone’s “a**” upon arrival. The children, all under 18, were distressed and worried about Proctor’s impending visit. One of the children later informed deputies that Proctor had “punched the air out of his lungs” on a prior occasion.
Upon his arrival, the teenage boy went outside and “yelled at Matt,” which led to Proctor punching him in the face. The boy fell, began to tremble, and Proctor hit him once more. At that moment, Proctor’s eldest daughter ran out and struck her father in the mouth.
Proctor grabbed his youngest son and fled the scene.
Proctor was arrested about thirty minutes later, claiming he was attacked first. During an interview, he mentioned that the mother of his two oldest daughters refused to let him take the children, prompting him to scream for them to come outside. He stated that the children “were being disrespectful.”
Proctor claimed boy came out and hit him in the mouth twice and he responded by swinging wildly and hitting the teen once in the face.
However, a neighbor’s doorbell camera supported the children’s account rather than Proctor’s. The video showed that the boy did not strike Proctor, but his daughter did after Proctor had already knocked the boy to the ground.
The boy was taken to a children’s hospital for treatment and was found “to have a red mark and swelling on the left side of his face” along with “injuries on both sides of his face, his jaw, and a concussion.
Proctor is being held on a $75,000 bond with an August 6 court date, Law&Crime reported.
