A county Republican Party chairman in Utah was arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated child abuse after he repeatedly dunked his teenage daughter’s head in a bathroom sink because didn’t clean her room to his specifications before going out with friends.
A police report says that Wasatch County officials received a reported on January 21 from the Division of Child and Family Services that the girl had told them she “did not feel safe in her home and expressed fear for her life,” KSL reported.
The girl told child advocates David Nephi Johnson, 54, punished her when she came back home, telling them her father “grabbed the victim by the back of her neck and took her into the bathroom while the sink was filling with water. She disclosed that (Johnson) dunked her head under, brought it out, splashed water in her face, then dunked the victim’s head under again,” the affidavit says.
The girl also said there had been other incidents in which her siblings were abused, including a younger brother whom Johnson “took him into the bathroom and forced his head under the water.
“The victim stated that David removed her brother from the water, splashed water on his face and nose, knocked him down and repeated the act multiple times,” the affidavit says.
“I don’t feel very safe,” the girl told investigators, according to KUTV. “When I go to bed, I feel like I can’t sleep because I don’t feel safe. When my dad’s not home, I feel fine. But when he’s home, I never feel safe because I feel like something is going to happen.”
Johnson is the Wasatch County Republican Party chairman, KSL reported.
“The safety and well-being of children are of paramount importance to our party and our community, the party’s executive committee said in a statement. “We are deeply concerned and troubled by the nature of the allegations brought forward by the Heber City Police Department. The Wasatch County GOP Executive Committee met in an emergency session. In accordance with our bylaws, Vice Chair Patty Sprunt will temporarily assume leadership to ensure the party continues its work for the residents of the county without interruption.”
The committee said no evidence had been presented so far and that the “community should refrain from judgement.”
Johnson was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Wasatch County jail.
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[Featured image: David Nephi Johnson/Facebook]
