BLANDING, Utah — A Blanding man faces charges of Child Torture and Aggravated Child Abuse after he allegedly punished young children by making them perform physical drills or take cold showers, leading to a 3-year-old being hospitalized for hypothermia.
Jordan Taylor, 28, was charged Wednesday following an investigation that began when an officer was dispatched to Primary Children's Hospital, where the boy was being treated for hypothermia and showed bruising across his body.
The boy's mother claimed the 3-year-old had fallen in the bathtub while they were showering, and that the bruising was from the boy wrestling with his 6-year-old sister. The mother said the hypothermia was likely caused by her forgetting to turn off the air conditioning unit when the boy got out of the shower.
During an interview with the Blanding Police Department officer, Taylor shared the same account as his girlfriend, the boy's mother, but contradicted her explanation for the hypothermia, saying the child was already cold when they both came out of the bathroom.
Taylor explained that he punished the boy and his 6-year-old sister by making them do "squats, planks, or wall sits" after they stole treats or took candy, according to the charging documents.
The 6-year-old girl told police that Taylor teaches her and her brother wrestling and Muay Thai, and "demonstrated various punches and kicks, stating that she would perform these on the three-year-old victim." She said if the children cried, they would be placed in a time-out.
"[The girl] described these timeouts as being put into a cold shower or being made to place their head against a wall, perform squats, or do planks. She added that if they continued to cry during these timeouts, additional time would be added."
When asked about where her mother was during the punishments, the girl said her mother's head hurts when her brother cried, so "she usually puts headphones on."
During another incident, the boy's sister said Taylor would wrap tape around her brother's mouth after one instance when he was crying.
