A Wisconsin police officer is facing a felony child abuse charge after he allegedly beat and choked a 7-year-old girl, according to court documents.
Frank Williams, a 30-year-old police officer with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), has been charged with one count of felony physical abuse of a child and one count of felony strangulation and suffocation, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Newsweek.
On January 18, The MPD released a statement announcing that an officer had been arrested as a suspect in a child abuse case.
"The Milwaukee Police Department holds all members to the highest degree of integrity and if any member violates the code of conduct, they will be held accountable," the MPD told Newsweek in an email on Monday. "He is fully suspended. An internal investigation is pending."
The condition of the victim, who has not been named because of her age but was identified as a relative of Williams, was unknown as of Saturday night.
It was unclear if Williams had retained an attorney who could speak on his behalf at the time of publication.
On January 17, MPD Sergeant Zachery Thoms responded to the emergency room at the Milwaukee campus of Children's Wisconsin for a report of child abuse, according to the criminal complaint.
Thoms said he met with the 7-year-old victim at the hospital and said he observed seven or eight bruises on the girl's thigh as well as a large bruise on her arm.
While being interviewed by Thoms, the child said that Williams had "whooped" her with a thick belt the day before because she was supposed to be taking a nap, the court documents state.
After hitting the little girl with the belt, she said Williams then put his hands around her throat and choked her, the criminal complaint alleges. "He squished my neck," the girl said during a follow-up interview with MPD on January 18, where she described how Williams choked her until she "couldn't breathe."
The girl said that Williams told her to stop talking back during the incident and that she ran into the hallway to get away, the document states. She told police that Williams' wife Brittney Mason-Gordon and a 4-year-old boy had witnessed the January 16 encounter. Mason-Gordon allegedly told the girl to "stop moving," according to the criminal complaint, which stated, Mason-Gordon also told Williams, "That's enough." He responded, "No it's not," the court documents allege.
Mason-Gordon then "continued to look at her cell phone and did not take any further action," the girl said during the police interview.
After beating the 7-year-old girl, Williams then began to strike the 4-year-old boy with the belt, the little girl said during the police interview. She said that she could hear the boy crying.
It was unclear how the girl got to the hospital or if the boy suffered any injuries.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office filed formal charges, and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said Williams was released from custody Saturday morning.
Williams was sworn in as an MPD recruit in 2016, local station WITI reported.
Update 1/22/24, 9:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from MPD.
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