GOP lawmaker Bob Nicholas, who represents Laramie County, Wyoming, was arrested while on a family vacation on Florida after he allegedly beat and kicked his 19-year old mentally disabled son outside a restaurant. Nicholas claims that his son needed the beating, which he categorized as “corporal punishment,” an unfortunately legal physical attack on a child. Nicholas’ son is an adult.
“Abuse of an elderly or disabled adult is a third-degree felony in Florida, and it carries a prison sentence of up to five years,” reports the Wyoming News, which notes the existence of a Florida sheriff’s office report:
The document indicates that multiple witnesses outside of a restaurant saw Nicholas hit his son repeatedly with a closed fist, push him onto the sidewalk and then kick him more than five times.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office contacted Nicholas about two hours after the incident in the hotel room where he and his son were staying.
A sergeant reported a small blood stain on a bedspread in the room and observed that the victim had redness and welts on his neck and a foot-sized abrasion to the skin around his left ribcage that appeared to have a shoelace pattern to it, the report says.
The Wyoming News adds that Nicholas “said he has no intention of resigning his legislative seat.”
“I don’t think I committed a crime, so why would I?” he responded when asked.
…
“This is an instance of perception and reality being two very different things,” he said.
Nicholas’ son suffers from seizures and has a mental condition similar to autism, the report indicates.
Nicholas said his son became disruptive and combative during lunch. He said he was only trying to get his son out of the restaurant, and he described his response as “corporal punishment,” according to the sheriff’s report.
“Patrons at the restaurant obviously felt that I was being too physical with him and called law enforcement,” he said Friday. “Not knowing the circumstances, I may have done the same thing.”
Nicholas added that his son was “not harmed” after the altercation. His son was playing basketball shortly after with his cousins, he said.
Nicholas added that he fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so.
“I accept I will have to explain my actions,” he said. “And if I was too strong with my son, I will address that as well.”
Nicholas is a Republican and member of the Wyoming Republican Party, which loaded the below images on their Facebook page:
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Editorial note:
An earlier version of this story noted that Bob Nicholas was from Laramie, Wyoming, which is incorrect. Nicholas represents Laramie County, Wyoming, and resides in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Laramie, Wyoming, sadly known as the scene of the Matthew Shepard hate crime murder, is not in Laramie County, as a reader requested we clarify.
(Hat tip to Zaid Jilani at Think Progress)