A Pennsylvania man is accused of brutally abusing his 6-year-old daughter in Pittsburgh.
John Kraft is now in jail.
In September, Greene County social workers found severe bruising on the girl’s face and body, police said.
Two weeks ago, when they interviewed the girl and her sibling, police said they told them about Kraft allegedly burying the girl alive in a hole in the yard, which left her smelling like sewage.
The girl told police that her father would “bury her in the yard when he believes that she is lying,” the criminal complaint said.
The Greene County district attorney said it’s one of the worst child abuse cases he’s ever seen.
“The allegations are that this child was beaten brutally, that the child had bruises all over her body, that she was choked to the point that she had passed out,” Greene County District Attorney David Russo said. “She was buried in a hole as punishment. She was thrown in a hole overnight. Her head was slammed off the wall and slammed off the floor. This is a barbaric situation.”
The girl told investigators that Kraft often beat her with a belt and his arm, which has a metal rod in it from surgery, police said. Authorities said they documented that the girl’s body was covered in old and new bruises.
“My office has always taken a strong stance against child abuse,” Russo said. “We will not tolerate it in our county, and this individual will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Kraft is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, strangulation, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and more.
Investigators said the children have been put in foster care.
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