A dad reportedly claimed he was trying to protect his child when he boarded a school bus with her and told her to punch another girl. Authorities have stated that this is not the way to handle conflict, and have issued an arrest warrant. According to video footage shared by KMOV and KSDK, the Missouri dad, Maurice Fox, got on the bus in the Ferguson-Florissant School District with his 6-year-old daughter. Together, Fox and his daughter walked up to a 7-year-old girl, and per The Independent, the dad allegedly said, “Do what I told you to do.”
Then, he seemingly addressed the 7-year-old girl, saying, “Don’t put your hands on my daughter no more … ‘cause if I find out you’re touching her again, your parents will have to talk to me.” After making this threat, he allegedly instructed his daughter to hit the other girl.
The 6-year-old allegedly punched the 7-year-old in the head repeatedly, but apparently, that wasn’t enough for the dad. When his daughter stopped hitting the other girl, he told her to do it “again.” In video footage shared by the news outlets, he can be heard saying, “I want her crying. Again.”
The father now faces charges of felony harassment and assault and trespass of a school bus, NBC News reported. As of October 15, he’s not in police custody and not speaking with authorities. He did, however, allegedly launch a GoFundMe fundraiser that was later removed.
Per KSDK, the dad defended his actions in an online statement. “I felt I had no other choice as a parent; my only intention was to protect my child and empower her in a world that hasn’t protected her,” the statement read.
In their own statements, authorities have described the “disturbing” incident as “completely unacceptable.” Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said authorities “have made several attempts to contact the parent, but he has avoided all efforts to speak with our detectives.” At the same time, the dad “found the time to create a GoFundMe account seeking donations for his legal defense.”
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith also released a statement saying, “An adult cannot enter a school bus and direct his six-year-old daughter to assault another child. This is not the we way handle conflict. What kind of a world do we live in when a parent teaches his child to resolve conflict through violence?”
