DEER PARK, Texas (WSVN) — A Texas man has been arrested after he was accused of slapping his stepdaughter’s 12-year-old bully.
According to the KTRK, police arrested 37-year-old James Peace, charging him with injury to a child under 15.
According to Peace’s wife, he was standing up for his stepdaughter after she was bullied by the 12-year-old boy and his friend while walking home from school.
“Saying that her body was ugly, said that she was a transvestite, started throwing ice cream at her and then they picked up the rocks,” Peace’s wife told the station.
The girl eventually called stepfather and asked for a ride home.
Police said while Peace was taking the girl home, he saw the boy in question and stopped to confront him.
According to police, Peace yelled at the boy then slapped him. Investigators said the incident was caught by a nearby surveillance camera.
“He was slapped across the face with an open hand, had red marks and swelling to his cheek and upper jaw,” Deer Park Police Lt. Chris Brown told KTRK.
According to court records, Peace then threatened the boy not to tell police or he would beat him up.
KHOU reports that the boy eventually told his teacher because he was afraid to go to lunch and see Peace’s stepdaughter.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Peace has been released on a $15,000 bond.
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