13 hours Ago
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Detectives arrested the minister of a small religious sect in Clark County this week after he allegedly beat a congregant's child with a belt while she was not in attendance. According to a statement from the Clark County Sheriff's Office, the 6-year-old child and their mother attend a church operated out of a home in the Hazel Dell area called "Army of the Lord — Ministry of Defense.
" The mother said that on Sunday, Feb. 16, she'd asked a friend to take her child to services because she couldn't make it. She said she asked the friend to talk with the minister, 42-year-old Gabriel Hardy of Vancouver, about "having a conversation" with the 6-year-old about "recent disrespectful behavior.
" When the child returned home from the service, CCSO said, they had bruises and welts across their lower back, hips and buttocks. The child said that Hardy had whipped them with a belt about a dozen times. The next day, the mother reported the alleged child abuse and CCSO patrol deputies responded to investigate.
They requested help from the sheriff's office Special Victims Unit. According to CCSO, witnesses said that Hardy openly preached about the merits of corporal punishment for young children, and "professed that he was divinely ordained to chastise children." Hardy allegedly admitted to the 6-year-old's mother that he'd whipped the child with a belt to discipline them.
On Thursday, SVU served a search warrant at the residence with help from the Major Crimes Unit and Tactical Detective Unit. Hardy wasn't there at the time, but investigators said they found evidence to support a charge for assault of a child. Detectives contacted Hardy later that day, and he admitted to hitting the child with a belt, CCSO said.
He was taken into custody and booked on a charge of third-degree assault of a child. SVU believes that Hardy may have assaulted other children in Clark County. Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the Clark County Sheriff's Office by calling 3-1-1 or emailing detectives at cjcdetective@clark.
wa.gov ..
