Adams County Deputy, Wife Charged With Child Abuse
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - An Adams County Sheriff's Deputy is facing two counts of child abuse after being accused of spanking his 10-year-old daughter with a 14-inch wooden spoon until her buttocks were black and blue and for allegedly stuffing cayenne pepper into his children's mouths as a form of discipline.
Prosecutors have filed two misdemeanor child abuse counts against Randy Plank, and one misdemeanor child abuse charge against his wife, Mandy Plank, 32.
Deputy Plank, 40, did not respond to phone or electronic messages left for him on Thursday.
Plank's ex-wife called authorities earlier this month after her daughter returned home.
"It was terrible," said Chauna Button. "I was alarmed."
Button said her daughter's backside was black and blue.
"It was really bad," said Button.
Her daughter recounted that Plank, who is listed on one court document as 6 feet tall and 300 pounds, had used a broken wooden spoon that he called a "spanking stick" to discipline her.
The girl is 4-foot-6 and weighs 85 pounds.
Button says when deputies saw her daughter they contacted Social Services and immediately began a criminal investigation.
Last week, Plank and his wife were arrested and charged.
According to court documents in the case, deputies executed a search warrant on the Plank's Brighton home September 10 and seized a 14.5 inch wooden spoon and a container of "cowboy cayenne spice."
Authorities accuse Plank of force feeding the cayenne pepper into his children's mouths and restraining them, as a form of discipline.
CBS4 has learned Randy Plank has been an Adams County Deputy for about 10 years and is assigned to courthouse security.
He is next due in court October 15 for a preliminary hearing.
The Adams County Sheriff's Department said the matter is under internal investigation and that Deputy Plank remains on the job. Sgt. Terrance O'Neill, a spokesperson for the department, said Plank has been transferred from from his assignment at the courthouse to a deputy position at the Adams County jail pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations.
- Written by Brian Maass for CBSDenver.com
