# Texas Dad Beats His Daughters Molester to Death



## Zoran (Jun 11, 2012)

I am a father of a 5 year old girl. I can't say I would never do this as just the thought pretty much makes me crazy.



> A Texas father ​beat a man to death after catching him molesting his four-year-old daughter in a horse barn, The Houston Chronicle reports. The incident happened Saturday evening near Shiner, Texas.
> Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon identified the victim as a 47-year-old man from Gonzales, Texas. He was reported dead at the scene, however, his name will not be released until his next of kin is notified.Harmon said the father and daughter were with several other people at the familys barn to groom and tend to the horses. It isnt clear whether or not the father knew the victim well or at all, according to The Chronicle.The sound of the little girls screams were later heard coming from the barn and instinctually, the father rushed to his daughters aide. After reaching the barn, he found a man sexually assaulting his daughter  undoubtedly a dads worst nightmare.After pulling the attacker off of her, the father repeatedly struck the man in the head.The young girl was taken to DeTar hospital in Victoria where doctors ran tests to determine whether sexual assault had occurred, The Houston Chronicle reports. She was eventually released.In the aftermath, nearby residents are having a hard time feeling any sympathy for the alleged child molester.He got what he deserved, big time, Sonny Jaehne, a Shiner resident, told the Victoria Advocate.Another Shiner resident Mark Harabis said he agreed with the fathers action totally.​



http://www.theblaze.com/stories/he-...as-dad-beats-his-daughters-molester-to-death/

Will be interesting to see how it plays out.


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## Steve (Jun 11, 2012)

Zoran said:


> I am a father of a 5 year old girl. I can't say I would never do this as just the thought pretty much makes me crazy.
> 
> http://www.theblaze.com/stories/he-...as-dad-beats-his-daughters-molester-to-death/
> 
> Will be interesting to see how it plays out.


Personally, I can't find it in my heart to blame the guy.  I'm not a particularly violent person, but I am not sure I'd be able to show restraint in that situation.


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## seasoned (Jun 11, 2012)

I feel the same as Steve on this. Being the father of a grown daughter I can tell you it was of concern to me as we raised our daughter. It would be hard to fine forgiveness in my heart if it were my daughter.


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## mmartist (Jun 11, 2012)

I don't think there is a person who could blame this parent for his actions.


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## ballen0351 (Jun 11, 2012)

No sure why the daughter was in a barn alone with out a parent but yeah I'd have beaten him too and depending on what I saw when I entered the barn beating him to death might have been too good for him. Raped by a horse 1st seems better punishment


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## Flying Crane (Jun 11, 2012)

of course the father can now be brought up on charges of manslaughter or something similar.  And if the sexual assault had not progressed far enough to leave evidence that would be found at the hospital, casting some doubt on the claim, it might be straight up murder.


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## Haakon (Jun 11, 2012)

Sounds like justifiable homicide to me, I certainly can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing in that situation.




> Harmon said a grand jury will probably to determine what, if any charges, will be filed.




Being Texas I'd think that the chances of a grand jury indicting him would be low, and the odds of getting a jury that would convict even lower.


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## elder999 (Jun 11, 2012)

Haakon said:


> Sounds like justifiable homicide to me, I certainly can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing in that situation.
> .



Well, yeah.


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## Gentle Fist (Jun 11, 2012)

Most of us would have done the same thing...   It is capital felony, punishable by death in the legal system anyway...   so why not get it over with and skip the whole trial and jury nonsense


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## Blade96 (Jun 11, 2012)

no body can blame the dad.....


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## Makalakumu (Jun 11, 2012)

Flying Crane said:


> of course the father can now be brought up on charges of manslaughter or something similar.  And if the sexual assault had not progressed far enough to leave evidence that would be found at the hospital, casting some doubt on the claim, it might be straight up murder.



I hope I would have enough self control to take this into account, but in that circumstance I'm not sure how far I would take it. And I never want to find out...


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## Buka (Jun 11, 2012)

It is the proper way a decent society should handle injustices toward children.


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## Carol (Jun 11, 2012)

A rape is an attempt on the victim's life IMO.   I hope the dad is not charged.


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## elder999 (Jun 11, 2012)

Carol said:


> A rape is an attempt on the victim's life IMO.



Rape is a justification for lethal force in most jurisdictions-though a prosecutor might make something out of when and if the rapist was "subdued," the fact is that it's doubly lethal in the case of a 4 year old girl.

_I'd have killed him* twice*, just to be sure.

_


Makalakumu said:


> I hope I would have enough self control to take this into account, but in that circumstance I'm not sure how far I would take it. And I never want to find out...



That means, of course, that I'd take charges into account, and, with all due self-control, take out my knife and stab him in the heart after he stopped breathing, just to be sure.....


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## CanuckMA (Jun 11, 2012)

I'm a pacifist. But if anybody had tried to harm my kids there are 2 things I' absolutely sure of. 1) the level of violence inflicted of the scum would start at 'great'. 2) I have no clue where it would stop. 

This will never get past the Grand Jury.


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## granfire (Jun 12, 2012)

Not knowing the exact circumstance I do have to way in though and say that the father is not completely free of wrong doing.

A horse barn is not a safe place for a four year old on a good day. Barn owners loathe parents who do not supervise their children. 
While molestation is certainly the last thing one thinks about in a barn, things can happen to put the life of a child in danger or precious limbs like fingers being lost. Don't take long.

While I am in the camp of the parents who would inflict bodily harm, I am also one of those parents who always had an eye on my kid at that age and much longer than that, really.


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## malteaser14 (Jun 12, 2012)

I'm female and if I found anyone touching my daughter in that way then I'd kill them willingly... The only thing that could stop me is them killing me first... Or my daughter being that terrified that I'd get her out of there, but Id hunt him down!!!


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## WC_lun (Jun 12, 2012)

I understand the desire to really, REALLY hurt the creep.  My feelings are for the little girl though.  First she is molested then she may lose her dad to jail because her father could not control himself.  I'm not saying I would have done any better in that situation, but seems to me the best interest of the child would be if daddy is still there instead of jail.  Sometimes being a good parent means thinking of the kid first and denying yourself.  Poppa didn't do that.


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## kitkatninja (Jun 12, 2012)

CanuckMA said:


> I'm a pacifist. But if anybody had tried to harm my kids there are 2 things I' absolutely sure of. 1) the level of violence inflicted of the scum would start at 'great'. 2) I have no clue where it would stop...



Same here.


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## Nomad (Jun 12, 2012)

A little more info today:



> The adults were shoeing a horse and had sent the 4-year-old and her brother to feed chickens when the attack occurred, a relative told KPRC.
> 
> The children's grandfather said the boy returned to alert his father that the little girl had been taken away by a man. The father found the pair partially naked, investigators told KPRC.​



And apparently the father didn't use a weapon, but beat the rapist to death.  

From the available information, justifiable homicide in defense of another seems likely.  I can't imagine any father showing restraint in such circumstances.


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## Flying Crane (Jun 12, 2012)

Nomad said:


> A little more info today:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I dunno if that is justifiable.  If he hit the guy once or twice and the guy fell over and hit his head and died, then that may be justifiable.

But if he hit the guy and the guy fell over, or even started to run away, at that point the attack and the danger to the victim has legally been stopped.  Typically the "defender" has an obligation to stop at that point.  If the father chased him down and/or continued to hit him after he was down and no longer a threat, then the father has become the aggressor in the eyes of the law.  If that is what happened, then he could be charged criminally with some form of manslaughter or something.

Just to be clear, I'm not condemning the father, I'm not defending the attacker, I'm not saying I don't understand the father's reaction nor how any father or parent might react to a similar situation.  I'm just saying that depending on how the events actually played out, he very well could be prosecuted.


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## Flying Crane (Jun 12, 2012)

WC_lun said:


> I understand the desire to really, REALLY hurt the creep. My feelings are for the little girl though. First she is molested then she may lose her dad to jail because her father could not control himself. I'm not saying I would have done any better in that situation, but seems to me the best interest of the child would be if daddy is still there instead of jail. Sometimes being a good parent means thinking of the kid first and denying yourself. Poppa didn't do that.




yeah, it's difficult to protect and care for your family if you are sitting in prison.  Long term picture here.  Of course it's difficult to keep that in mind during the passion of the moment, I don't deny that.


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## shihansmurf (Jun 12, 2012)

Flying Crane said:


> yeah, it's difficult to protect and care for your family if you are sitting in prison. Long term picture here. Of course it's difficult to keep that in mind during the passion of the moment, I don't deny that.



Valid point.

I hope I'm never in a position to test my restraint in such a matter. I'm very protective of my family, and I can't imagine any scenario like this where I wouldn't react the same. I hope he is exonerated. The girl doesn't need to loose her father on top of this.

Mark


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## Wo Fat (Jun 12, 2012)

If the guy lives like an animal, then that's the way I'd treat him.  I'd kill any animal that dared to harm my daughter.  Or _someone else's_ 5 year old daughter for that matter.


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## Randy Strausbaugh (Jun 12, 2012)

Clearly, no jury in its right mind would convict the father.  Epecially not in Texas.  Just sayin'.

I worry about the little girl.  Not only was she raped or nearly raped, but she saw her father beat a man to death.  Two very traumatic events.  She might see it as "Daddy will protect me", or if she blames herself (as unfortunately far too many victems do) she might take it as "Daddy killed someone, and it's my fault".  Just telling her she's not to blame probably will not be enough.  I hope that this child gets counseling to help her deal with this.  She's suffered enough and should not have to suffer further.


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## Zoran (Jun 12, 2012)

Funny thing is before I was a father, if I found myself in the situation with someone else's little girl, I would probably give the guy a pretty damned good beating but I am sure I would have the presence of mind to stop before he died. Prison being my motivating factor to stopping but not a huge concern.

Now that I am a father, I doubt I would have the presence of mind to stop even though I have more to loose if taken to prison. 

Interesting.


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## pgsmith (Jun 12, 2012)

> Will be interesting to see how it plays out.


  This is Texas, there's no way the grand jury will authorize the DA to prosecute this case. They'll label it justifiable homicide, and the fellow will be a local hero.

  However, I agree with granfire that at that age, I always knew where my kids were and what they were up to. We have no way of knowing from the article whether the perpetrator may have grabbed the girl and run off with her while the Dad was looking the other way, or how long she was out of his sight before he heard her. However, it sounds to me like he wasn't paying close enough attention at the time. I have no issues with the fact that the perpetrator is no longer in need of our justice system.


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## billc (Jun 12, 2012)

Sometimes, especially if the guy has no background in hitting people, you can't always tell how much is too much when you are hitting someone.  One punch in the wrong (or right ) place will kill.  

Now here is the interesting question.  If you are on the jury, and you have the info. on this that we have here, and no more...do you convict the father?  No fair saying we don't know enough about the case, we never will since we won't be on the jury.  This is just a decision base on what we know from the first post, and we assume it is accurate.  Do you convict, yes or no?  From the standard of a reasonable person in the same situation, I say no, I would not vote to convict.


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## Carol (Jun 12, 2012)

billcihak said:


> Sometimes, especially if the guy has no background in hitting people, you can't always tell how much is too much when you are hitting someone.  One punch in the wrong (or right ) place will kill.
> 
> Now here is the interesting question.  If you are on the jury, and you have the info. on this that we have here, and no more...do you convict the father?  No fair saying we don't know enough about the case, we never will since we won't be on the jury.  This is just a decision base on what we know from the first post, and we assume it is accurate.  Do you convict, yes or no?  From the standard of a reasonable person in the same situation, I say no, I would not vote to convict.



I would not vote to convic5 predominantly because the father struck his daughters assailant when she was being sexually assaulted. That to me speaks strongest of trying to stop a vicious threat to his daughter's life.   Had the assailant fled and the father pursued to track the assailant down, that would be shakier.


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## Flying Crane (Jun 12, 2012)

billcihak said:


> No fair saying we don't know enough about the case, we never will since we won't be on the jury.



then it really is pointless to speculate. You may as well just look at what people have posted already. I'd say their positions have been made clear. But it's not based on fact, it's based on emotion.


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## Buka (Jun 13, 2012)

We can't very well condone just killing someone who is sexually attacking an innocent child. I mean, if everyone did that - sooner or later we'd run out of child rapists. Jeesh, then where would we be?


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## ballen0351 (Jun 13, 2012)

Id say he has a good case for temp insanity defense.  I think a jury would buy that if they tell the story.  "My son came running saying a strage man just kidnapped my daughter.   I went running in a panic to find her and I see my little baby girl naked with a naked adult man touching her. I blanked out went into a fit of rage,  I pulled him off he struggled with me I dont remember anything else until it was over and I got my innocent little girl out of that barn."  At least thats how Id say it happened. Then hopefully my lawyers got several parents on the jury.


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## Grenadier (Jun 13, 2012)

If the evidence in place supports the father's story, then he is clearly in the territory of "justified homicide."  We need to see the evidence that comes forth.  If the medical reports support this, then I would have absolutely no problems vindicating the father, and even calling him a hero.  

In most areas, you can use lethal force to prevent a violent felony, and preventing the rape of a child is certainly grounds for this.


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## sfs982000 (Jun 13, 2012)

I don't blame the girls father in the least bit, I would've done the exact same thing in his situation.


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## Nomad (Jun 13, 2012)

Buka said:


> We can't very well condone just killing someone who is sexually attacking an innocent child. I mean, if everyone did that - sooner or later we'd run out of child rapists. Jeesh, then where would we be?



That almost sounds like a plan to me...


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## Scott T (Jun 13, 2012)

Nice thing about where I live. About twenty miles from here is a forest that extends about 300 miles north. Lots of old logging roads to drop the the body and let the wildlife dispose of the it.


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## pgsmith (Jun 14, 2012)

> Id say he has a good case for temp insanity defense. I think a jury would buy that if they tell the story. "My son came running saying a strage man just kidnapped my daughter. I went running in a panic to find her and I see my little baby girl naked with a naked adult man touching her. I blanked out went into a fit of rage, I pulled him off he struggled with me I dont remember anything else until it was over and I got my innocent little girl out of that barn." At least thats how Id say it happened. Then hopefully my lawyers got several parents on the jury.


  Won't need any of that, it's in Texas. The grand jury will label it justifiable homicide and not pass it on for prosecution. It wasn't that many years ago that a grand jury decided it was justifiable homicide when a father hunted down and shot his daughter's molester.


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## Carol (Jun 19, 2012)

The grand jury has spoken.   They refuse to indict the father.  The DA believes the evidence corrobertates the father's story.


http://www.khou.com/news/159620305.html


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## granfire (Jun 19, 2012)

Carol said:


> The grand jury has spoken.   They refuse to indict the father.  The DA believes the evidence corrobertates the father's story.
> 
> 
> http://www.khou.com/news/159620305.html



well, that's justice at work I suppose.


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## Grenadier (Jun 20, 2012)

Carol said:


> The grand jury has spoken.   They refuse to indict the father.  The DA believes the evidence corrobertates the father's story.
> 
> 
> http://www.khou.com/news/159620305.html



In that case, good for the father.  He's a hero for saving his daughter from an awful fate.  

My only beef with this situation, is that it shouldn't have even gone to the grand jury from the start, given all of the evidence in hand.


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## pgsmith (Jun 20, 2012)

> My only beef with this situation, is that it shouldn't have even gone to the grand jury from the start, given all of the evidence in hand.


  Yep, that's true. However, I believe it is standard procedure, at least in Texas, when someone is killed that it go to a grand jury for review.


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## Nomad (Jun 20, 2012)

Carol said:


> The grand jury has spoken.   They refuse to indict the father.  The DA believes the evidence corrobertates the father's story.
> 
> 
> http://www.khou.com/news/159620305.html



Glad to hear it.  The only difference I could see is that I might well use a tool to help in similar circumstance rather than using my hands.


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## MA-Caver (Jun 20, 2012)

> "Under the law in the State of Texas, deadly force is justified in order  to stop and aggravated sexual assault or a sexual assault," said Lavaca  County District Attorney Heather McMinn. "All of the evidence that was  presented showed that, that was in fact what was occurring when the  victims father arrived at the scene."



Ya gotta love Texas. 



> Emergency workers, as well as the daughter's grandfather and aunt,  tried to revive Flores but could not. Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon  said he found the distraught father crying, saying that he had not  intended to kill Flores.
> 
> "He's a peaceable soul," V'Anne Huser, the father's attorney, said. "He had no intention to kill anybody that day."
> The case has sparked a debate about whether the killing was justified.
> "There are those ... who feel that as abominable as the actions of  Flores were, he did not deserve a death sentence delivered through  vigilante justice,"



Attacking the guy after the fact is different. Attacking the guy _during_ the act is definitely in defense of the girl. 
One thing I think stands out in the father's favor was that he used no weapons, this would've shown signs of premeditation. He went out into the field following his daughter's cries to help her, saw the assault in progress and thus reacted. Calling 911 immediately also I think helped waive the indictment. 
Totally justifiable self-defense. 

One less perv.


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## celtic_crippler (Jun 20, 2012)

Carol said:


> The grand jury has spoken.   They refuse to indict the father.  The DA believes the evidence corrobertates the father's story.
> 
> 
> http://www.khou.com/news/159620305.html



That IS justice. That family's been through enough. The guy deserves a "Dad of the Month" medal and that P.O.S. deserved to die.


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