Northport Parents Charged With Child Abuse After Daughters Report Beating

Northport parents have been charged with child abuse after investigators say they beat two of their daughters during an argument that stretched over several hours, and four children have been removed from their custody.

Ronald Earl Flack, 45, and Sarah Marie Flack, 37, were charged following an investigation by Northport police. A warrant was filed with the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Clerk’s office Wednesday.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources removed four children from the home during the investigation, according to the charging document.

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The case reportedly began when a school resource deputy notified Northport police late last month that one of the children had indicated possible abuse to a teacher.

According to the deposition, the sisters were outside playing while doing chores when their mother, Sarah Flack, came out of the house with a belt and began hitting the younger of the girls, who is living with a physical disability.

The older sister allegedly took the belt away from her  mother, who went inside and got Ronald Flack. The 45-year-old came outside, took the belt back and struck the older child.

The charging documents allege the juvenile had to let herself back into her home using a security code after her parents reportedly locked her out, and when she got back inside, she found her sister on the floor.

The Flacks then reportedly slapped and struck the older child repeatedly during the course of an argument that continued for two to three hours.

Both daughters showed facial bruising and the older child had a busted lip, investigators noted.

Court documents say a DHR worker and a Northport officer went to the home, where Sarah Flack was the only parent present. She gave a written statement after being read her Miranda rights and described giving one daughter a "whoopin'" for playing while she had been assigned chores and also admitted to slapping her older daughter at least twice.

An investigator wrote that the photographs of the sisters’ injuries were not consistent with slapping and were more consistent with being struck in the face with a closed fist, and that he found probable cause that both parents willfully abused the girls.

Both parents were charged with two counts of child abuse torture and placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where bond was set at $30,000 for each parent.

For more exclusive coverage of crime and courts in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.