John Kraft Waynesburg, Pennsylvania father charged with child abuse for burying 6yr old daughter in backyard as punishment. Neighbors notified Child Protection Services who failed to intercede.
A 50-year-old Waynesburg, Pennsylvania father is alleged to have beat and buried his 6 year old daughter alive in the family backyard as punishment for ‘bad behaviour’.
John Edward Kraft upon his arrest earlier this week was charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault and endangering welfare of children, as well as a single count each of strangulation and false imprisonment of a minor.
Revelations of the horror came after a social worker in Greene County, Pennsylvania last month told police that the little girl’s face body contained ‘severe bruising.’
Investigators sat down and interviewed the girl and her siblings for a series of talks and reportedly learned some disturbing facts.
According to a report, on Oct. 19, the Greene County Child and Youth Services contacted Pennsylvania State Police about a suspected child abuse victim. The 6-year-old girl told officials her father allegedly ‘struck her with his hands, a belt, and his arm, which has a metal implant from a surgery.’
Why did CPS fail to intercede?
The girl reportedly said Kraft ‘choked her to the point of unconsciousness and hit her head off of the floor and walls of the residence.’
When Kraft wanted to punish the girl, he allegedly ‘would bury her in the backyard.’
According to one episode, the victim’s elder brother claimed his sister being placed in a hole in the backyard, leaving her outside in the freezing cold all night.
It remained unclear how many times the father carried out the punishment.
According to a statement, ‘The Victim related that she would be left in the yard until she told the truth and that she would come out of the ground dirty and smelling like sewage.’
The girl suffered bruising to her face, arm, and buttocks, the statement said. The abuse allegedly occurred in September.
Of disconcert, neighbors speaking to CBS Pittsburgh told of having reached out to Child Protection Services in the past after coming across several instances of child abuse taking place at the family home- only for the agency to fail to intercede.
Worst case of child abuse
Court records show Kraft has been indicted on 15 counts, including aggravated assault — attempts to cause serious bodily injury, aggravated assault —attempts to cause or causes bodily injury with deadly weapon, three counts of endangering the welfare of children, and more.
He was booked into the Greene County Jail with his bond set at $125,000.
The victim and her sibling have since been placed in foster care, KDKA-TV reported.
Greene County District Attorney David Russo told KDKA-TV that the circumstances of the case amounted to one of the worst cases of child abuse he’d ever seen.
Said, Greene County District Attorney David Russo, ‘The allegations are that this child was beaten brutally, that the child had bruises all over her body, that she was choked to the point that she had passed out. She was buried in a hole as punishment. She was thrown in a hole overnight. Her head was slammed off the wall and slammed off the floor. This is a barbaric situation.’
