A Round Rock man has been accused of beating his 4-year-old daughter so severely that doctors found bruises and belt marks all over her body, according to an arrest affidavit.
Hawley Starnes, 25, was charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He told police that he had spanked his daughter eight times with a belt because she refused to take a nap and "was giving him attitude and being defiant," the affidavit said. It said he also told police he was aware of her injuries, "but he and his wife were not too concerned about the bruising."
Round Rock police were alerted at 2:02 a.m. April 18 about the girl, who was at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin, the affidavit said.
It said the girl’s grandmother told police at the hospital that the girl’s mother had dropped off the child for a relative to babysit on April 17. The relative said she noticed the girl’s wrist was swollen, and the child told her that Starnes had spanked her, the affidavit said.
The relative later noticed the girl had redness and bruising on her entire back and down to her calves, according to the affidavit. It said photos of the child’s injuries taken at the hospital showed extensive bruising and red belt marks from the back of her shoulders down to her calves.
The girl also had extensive bruising and redness on her abdomen, the front of her legs and her buttocks, the affidavit said.
The child’s mother told police that Starnes had spanked the girl eight times at their apartment in the 1800 block of E. Palm Valley Drive because she didn’t want to take a nap, according to the affidavit.
Starnes was not in custody Tuesday afternoon.
About the Author
