Stepfather accused of duct taping children’s mouths and hands
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ISLAND PARK — A 45-year-old man has been charged after police discovered his stepchildren with their mouths and hands duct taped.
Todd L. Sullivan, of Shelley, was charged with one misdemeanor count of battery for allegedly duct taping his three step children’s mouths and taping their hands behind their backs.
According to a probable cause statement, a Fremont County Sheriff’s deputy responded Sunday around 2:30 p.m. to Henry’s Lake State Park to investigate a report of children whose mouths and hands were taped.
“As I was walking up to the camp, I looked inside the vehicles,” Deputy Colter Cannon wrote in his report. “In a white Tahoe, I could see a younger person sitting in the back seat. I walked around to the side he was sitting on and opened the door. As I opened the door, I could see that he was a child around the age of 13 to 14 with tape around his mouth, and he was holding tape in his hands.”
The child told the deputy his mother and stepfather put the tape on him as discipline for fighting with his brothers.
The deputy and the child walked to the campsite where his mother, Jacqi Sullivan, and stepfather were.
“As Jacqi and Todd came out of the tent, I could see two other boys in the tent with tape around their mouths, and their hands were taped behind their backs,” Cannon wrote in his report. “I asked Jacqi what was going on, and she told me that the boys were fighting and would not listen to them, so they taped them up.”
These two boys were 11 years old. The children told the deputy they had been taped up for around one hour, according to police reports.
Cannon said Todd admitted to the deputy that he was the one who taped the children and was issued a misdemeanor citation for battery.
The deputy referred the case to Child Protective Services and submitted his report to Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Marcia Murdoch for additional charges.
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Murdoch, who declined to comment on the charges or provide the name of the prosecutor assigned to the case. She would not confirm or deny whether charges against Jacqi or additional charges against Todd will be filed.
He is due in court in Fremont County on June 14 for an arraignment hearing.