Utah father arrested after forcibly shaving teen girl’s hair, police say
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Pat Reavy, KSL
EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (KSL) — An Eagle Mountain man was arrested Thursday and accused of pinning his daughter down and shaving her head.
Julio Cesar Mena, 51, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of child torture and three counts of making a threat of violence.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office was called Thursday after a 14-year-old girl’s stepmother “watched on security cameras” as Mena forced the teen to the ground and “knelt over the victim, exerting a significant amount of force over her. … (Mena) is seen grabbing a fistful of the victim’s hair and slammed the victim’s head to the ground. (Mena) stands and proceeds to kick the victim in the legs,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Mena “forced the victim to the basement bathroom by grabbing her hair and violently, without care, dragging her downstairs. In the basement, (he) used general-purpose scissors to cut the victim’s hair. He continued to utilize the clippers to shave the victim’s head. During the incident, the victim suffered cuts/abrasions to the scalp from the aggressive manner in which she was shaved, causing significant pain to the victim,” the affidavit alleges.
The teen is heard repeatedly pleading with Mena. When deputies arrived at the residence, the girl was “emotionally distraught and crying uncontrollably. The victim was seen crying to the point of vomiting. She displayed significant psychological fear of (Mena) due to him causing mental anguish, humiliation and distress. The victim was near inconsolable for the time deputies were on scene,” the affidavit states.
When questioned, the man claimed he was “frustrated with the victim regarding her lack of school attendance, and other teen-related issues. (Mena) stated, as a punishment, he shaved the victim’s head,” according to the affidavit.
Mena, whom deputies say showed no remorse, also claimed he did the same thing to his oldest daughter, “and it fixed the problem,” the affidavit says.
The girls’ mother provided deputies with text messages in which Mena “threatened to kill the victim at the house and cut the victim’s throat. He threatened to ‘get violent again’ in other messages,” according to the affidavit. “(Mena) was reported to attempt to lure the victim’s elder sister to the home today to perform similar abuse.”