Wild Child, 10, Tasered Over Bath Time Rage

12:10pm UK, Thursday November 19, 2009

Huw Borland, Sky News Online

An unruly 10-year-old girl has been given a Taser stun gun jolt after she kicked an Arkansas policeman in the groin.

A Taser stun jolt subdued the 10-year-old

Police were called to a home in Ozark, near Little Rock, over a domestic disturbance, according to a report by Officer Dustin Bradshaw.

When he arrived, the girl was curled up on the floor and screaming, he wrote.

The youngster was also kicking and resisting every time her mother tried to get her in the shower before bed, the report continued.

My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal.

Father Anthony Medlock

Mr Bradshaw wrote: "Her mother told me to 'tase' her, if I needed to."

The officer tried to take the girl into custody but she was "violently kicking and verbally combative" and struck him, the report continued.

A Taser X26

So he delivered "a very brief drive stun to her back", the report said.

The girl's father Anthony Medlock told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his daughter has emotional problems, but she was unarmed and should not have been tasered.

"My daughter does not deserve to be tasered and be treated like an animal," said Mr Medlock, who is divorced from the girl's mother and does not have custody.

Ozark mayor Vernon McDaniel said the youngster was not injured but wanted Arkansas State Police to investigate the incident.

We didn't use the Taser to punish the child - just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else.

Police Chief Jim Noggle

"People here feel like that he made a mistake in using a Taser, and maybe he did, but we will not know until we get an impartial investigation," Mr McDaniel said.

The state police refused to launch a probe, saying it only gets involved with criminal investigations rather than matters of policy.

Police Chief Jim Noggle said no disciplinary action was taken against the officer and insisted Tasers are a safe way to subdue people who are a danger to themselves or others.

"We didn't use the Taser to punish the child - just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else," Mr Noggle said.

The girl, who was taken to Western Arkansas Youth Shelter in Cecil, will face disorderly conduct charges.