The small Panhandle town of Crestview is evidently home to the most despicable bunch of parents and guardians in all of Florida. Yesterday, a woman from the burg of 20,000 was booked for trying to run over her ex-husband while screaming that her daughters were going to grow up to be "strippers."
Today, police arrested a 28-year-old man from Crestview after he admitted he'd forced an 8-year-old girl and her 4-year-old sister to run and do situps until they puked, all while wearing an electric dog collar that would shock them if they stopped.
Michael Lee Mitchell admitted to police that he'd orchestrated the torturous punishment and later conceded it was "extreme and over the edge."
The report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office -- which you can read in full below -- doesn't explain Mitchell's relationship to the two girls, but he evidently was a guardian of some sort.
The local cops intervened after getting a report about the abuse from the Department of Children and Families, and the two girls told the whole story to sheriff's deputies in an interview.
They said Mitchell would strap an electric dog collar around their arm while they were forced to endure harsh physical exercise.
"Mitchell punishes her by making her do physical activity, to include 'suicides,' which consist of running, flutter kicks, pushups, and situps until she puked," deputies write. "When she would stop running, the defendant would shock her until she started running again."
Mitchell has been charged with two counts of felony child abuse.
If you're thinking of raising some kids in the Panhandle, in the meantime, you might stay away from Crestview. Here's the full police report:
Mitchell Arrest
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