U.S. Army Sergeant charged after Ring camera captures beating of 3-year-old
A U.S. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Hood is facing felony child abuse charges after investigators say a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera captured him violently beating a 3-year-old boy outside a Waco apartment complex.
According to the arrest warrant, Paul Thames, 29, told police he struck the child because the boy did not want to work on his ABCs.
Thames is charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony under Texas law. As of the afternoon of January 19, he remained held at the McLennan County Jail on a federal detainer. His bond was set at $200,000.
The assault was reported on Friday, January 16, at the Legend Apartments, located at 2400 Corporation Parkway in Waco. Child Protective Services and the Waco Police Department responded to the scene after receiving video evidence of the incident.
According to the warrant, officers were shown Ring doorbell footage from a neighboring apartment that recorded a man picking up a toddler by the neck and striking him repeatedly on the back with what police described as “excessive force.”
Investigators identified the man in the video as Thames.
During interviews with police, Thames said he had moved in with the child and the child’s mother several months earlier. He told officers the boy was taken outside to be disciplined after refusing to work on his ABCs.
The warrant states the child’s mother was inside the apartment working at the time of the assault.
While outside, the Ring camera recorded Thames punching the child multiple times in the torso. Police wrote that Thames then picked the child up by the back of his neck and placed his hand over the boy’s mouth. In the video, the child can be heard crying as Thames asked, “Are you going to stop playing?”
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According to the arrest warrant, Thames admitted to police that he “went overboard” and acknowledged his actions were wrong. He later apologized to the child.
Thames also told investigators he did not inform the child’s mother about the incident. Police noted that the assault would likely not have been discovered had the Ring doorbell footage not been provided by a neighbor.
The child was transported to a Waco hospital, where he was treated for neck pain and later released, according to police.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the 1st Cavalry Division confirmed Thames is an active-duty sergeant assigned to Fort Hood.
“We are aware of the arrest of Sgt. Paul Thames for abuse of a child,” the spokesperson said. “The 1st Cavalry Division is in communication with law enforcement. We are disgusted by the video that has been posted. The behavior of Sgt. Thames does not reflect the values of the 1st Cavalry Division or the U.S. Army.”
The case remains under investigation. Court records do not indicate when Thames is next scheduled to appear before a judge.
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