The father and stepmother of a 9-year-old girl have been arrested and charged of child abuse after they allegedly used waterboarding to punish the girl.
Joseph Maeser Mitchell, 29, and Ilaria Catherina Mitchell, 28 of Provo, Utah, are accused of punishing the girl on three occasions by tying her hands behind her back, then holding her down in a bathtub, with a towel over her face as water runs over her face.
The girl told police she cannot breathe and that it was hurting, according to reports. Authorities knew about the incident in November when the father brought the girl to Utah Valley Hospital where nurses determined something seemed wrong.
The girl's mother, who hasn't seen her since 2014, was outraged :"It was the hardest thing for me to hear having to be in Texas."
