Stillwater NewsPress

Local News

February 16, 2013

Perkins man accused of beating child

By Russell Hixson Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — A Perkins man is accused of severely beating a 9-year-old child with a half-inch thick paddle because the child told children at school he liked the University of Oklahoma better than Oklahoma State University.

According to an affidavit prepared by Perkins police, Gannon Wade Mendez, 41, also is accused of punishing the child by making him eat soap, run until he vomits, pressing his palm on the child’s face until his nose bleeds, taking him out of school to do workouts, waking him up every half hour at night to do push ups, punching him in the face, picking him up by his hair and slamming him into a door.

The alleged abuse came to light when students and teachers noticed severe bruising on the child’s legs and buttocks this month. The child was taken to Payne County Youth Shelter and later evaluated at a Cushing hospital.

The affidavit shows the child told police he was punished after Mendez found out he had told children at school he was an OU fan and did not like OSU. He said Mendez had taken away all of his OU memorabilia.

The child also explained other punishments Mendez told him not to talk about. The child told police Mendez made him eat soap for an hour and wash it out with mouthwash. He told police Mendez would make his nose bleed by punching him in the face or crushing it with his hands by squeezing.

He told police Mendez would also punish him by forcing him to do intense workouts before school. He would also take the child out of school to do workouts or keep him up through the night to work out. The child said Mendez would take him to a football field and make him sprint until he vomited.

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