Australian man pleads guilty to beating 6-year-old son for “being gay”
Father of three then turned his rage on the child's mom, choking her until she lost consciousness.
An Australian father pleaded guilty to beating his six-year-old son for sitting on another boy’s lap in what he believed was a sexual interaction.
The 28-year-old father of three from Mackay, North Queensland — whose name is being kept anonymous under Australian privacy laws — reportedly yelled “being gay is wrong” as he beat the his eldest son and threw him to the ground, screaming: “If they were adults I would have killed them.”
He then turned his rage on the child’s mother, who had entered the room to protect the couple’s infant daughter. He grabbed the woman, pinned her against the wall by her throat, and choked her until she lost consciousness.
“You better f— me after this,” the husband reportedly told his wife before she passed out, according to testimony in Mackay District Court.
He later apologized to her when she regained consciousness, only to slap her again when she tried to comfort their infant daughter. The man reportedly shouted that his family “were all trying to send him to jail,” according to Crown prosecutor Samantha O’Rourke, reports The Courier Mail.
The sustained attack lasted several days until a welfare visit on the family led to his arrest in August 2020, and has remained in custody ever since then.
Following his arrest, the man told police: “It’s hard to explain it, I caught my boy sitting on another boy’s lap, this is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
He added: “I’m a piece of s***. I shouldn’t have put my hands on my kid, but a matter of fact I have.”
Related: Three arrested in Atlanta after young boy had “gay” shaved into head
Defense barrister Scott McLennan said the incident “triggered something” in his client, who wasn’t able to cope with the idea that his son might be gay.
Prosecutors argued that while the man was in custody, he tried to persuade his wife to drop the charges against him or “he would miss out on the children’s lives.” He also ignored police protection and domestic violence orders and continued to contact her throughout September and October.
He was subsequently charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, choking, attempting to pervert justice, five counts each of common assault, and contravening a domestic violence order and police protection orders.
Earlier this week, he pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, and was sentenced to three years in prison by Judge Tony Moynihan.
However, because he has already spent a year in police custody, he could be released on parole before the end of 2021. His next parole hearing is scheduled for December 18.
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