Deputies: Everett man beat 5-year-old boy with belt for not learning ABCs

EVERETT, Wash. -- A 24-year-old Everett man is in jail after allegedly beating his son multiple times with a belt as the child struggled to learn the ABCs.

The man admitted to hitting his 5-year-old son and told sheriff's deputies he "went too far," Snohomish County probable cause documents show.

He is being held on first degree assault of a child, which can carry a sentence of up to life in prison.

According to probable cause documents:

On Monday, Snohomish County sheriff's deputies were called to the Swedish Mill Creek hospital with reports of possible child abuse.

The 5-year-old was brought to the hospital with head injuries, a busted blood vessel in his eye and fresh trauma marks on his legs and back. He had multiple marks on his back resembling the rectangular shape of a belt. The boy was later shown to have internal bleeding.

Sheriff's deputies talked with the father. He told deputies he was trying to teach his son the alphabet, and he got upset because the boy "wasn't understanding." He hit him multiple times with a belt, he said, tried to make his son sit still and learn ABCs. The boy grew restless again, and the father hit him with a belt as the child ran off.

The father chased his son across the house, and the boy fell down the stairs. As he was falling, his dad continued to hit him with the belt.

After falling down the stairs, the boy grew silent. The father noticed blood on his body, and he told his son to take a shower. The boy threw up and appeared to go in and out of consciousness. The father called 911.

The father told police he was "out of control," and explained he was having a "bad day" and lashed out at the boy for not getting the alphabet right. He was arrested by sheriff's deputies.

First degree assault is a Class A felony and carries a punishment of up to life in prison. Q13 News is not naming the man because he has not yet been charged.