From Court  Documents

Charges were filed in an extreme child abuse case that occurred near Ash Flat on Sept. 5. 

Charles Ross Lunsford, 39, was arrested on the scene after attempting to “get the demons out” of his two children by repeatedly holding their heads underwater.

Sharp County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Tye Baxter responded to a call the same day about a missing juvenile on Branscum Road in Ash Flat. He and Sgt. Hunter Taylor responded, and soon after arriving, the missing female child walked up from the ditch line, telling them she felt safe with their presence. 

While checking on her welfare, the girl’s father, Charles Ross Lunsford, drove up. The officers noticed him hugging the child, but her facial expressions showed fear.  Lunsford then returned home.  Officers spoke to his daughter. She told them her father had “punished” her and her brother earlier. She detailed how she had lost her place during Bible study with their father and asked him what verse they were on when he became outraged. The children, who are home schooled, then went outside to work on homework when the girl told officers their father came out yelling, “I don’t think you guys understand the Lord, and since you interrupted my study, you will be taught not to interrupt me.”

The child said her father then instructed them both to meet him by some buckets on a fence line near the home. 

The child said they were both then forced to kneel at the buckets to “be cleansed of the demons in the Lord’s name.” Their father then reportedly dunked their heads in the buckets, repeatedly telling them to “beg for Jesus.”  The female child said she was “baptized” six to eight times. During one of the times she was underwater, she told the officers she began to see black and white spots and kicked and stomped her feet to let her father know she was having a hard time while underwater. She then asked officers if she could go to her grandfather’s home on Fowler Road to change into dry clothing. She then went to change, and the officers advised her that they would speak further about the incident after she was dry and comfortable.

While Deputy Baxter spoke to Sgt. Taylor, the two noticed the children’s father’s truck pass by, heading for the Fowler Road address. They, too, proceeded to the home to speak with both children. Charles son wished to talk with the officers about the incident.

When they arrived, before they could speak to the young man, Charles entered through the garage and met the officers in the driveway. 

Deputy Baxter asked Charles about the events of the day. He said his children were both outside after their Bible study and after he was interrupted by his daughter. Charles told the officers that he took his religion and Bible seriously and felt children should not doubt him or Jesus.  He then admitted that earlier in the day, he had punished them by “wearing their [expletive] out with a belt” when his daughter tied a horse in a working pen without permission. Charles told the officers he had “whipped” them both multiple times.

He then went on to tell the officers how he had also submerged his children’s heads in the five-gallon buckets of water several times. Charles explained, as cited in the Probable Cause Affidavit,  “I felt it was necessary to get the demons out of them because they are not minding me and going against the word of God.” He told them he had reported his daughter missing after the incident. Officers noted his aggressive hand gestures and raised voice while explaining the incident in their report. Due to the nature of his behavior and the statement from his daughter, Charles was placed under arrest and told he would be placed on a Criminal Investigation Division hold. Sgt. Taylor transported him to the Sharp County Detention Center without incident. 

Charles’ son then recounted the same story as his sister about the incident with their father and the beating and water buckets. The boy said he feared for his sister’s well-being when she was kicking her feet and legs and told the officer he felt hopeless to help her due to the size difference between him and his father. The boy explained that this type of behavior was “not out of the ordinary’ for his father. He explained he had to go along with the punishment or he knew he would get punished worse. He advised that at some point when they were being “baptized” and made to beg for mercy and Jesus while being submerged, his father moved them to horse trough where he continued with the “baptism.”

The children changed into shorts for the officer to take photos of visual marks on their bodies. Charles’s daughter advised they were hit with a leather belt, not on their bottoms, but on their legs. `Both children had multiple distinct belt marks on the front and backs of their legs and thighs as well as bruises. The officer handed over all information and documentation to the Department of Human Services. Charles was initially cited with two counts, each of Third Degree Domestic Battery and Second Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Minor. 

On Sept. 6, Deputy Baxter sat in on a Forensic Interview with Investigator Cham Buchanan with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division. After the interview, the original charges were updated to reflect those filed with the Third Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s office. This was due to Lunsford also being involved as a witness to two events that occurred Aug. 22 and Sept. 5. 

Lunsford was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault on a family member, Class D felonies; domestic battery in the second degree with physical injury, Class C felonies; endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree with risk of death or physical injury, Class D Felonies’ endangering the welfare  of a minor in the second degree, reckless risks of serious physical harm,Class A misdemeanors; and Kidnapping, false imprisonment in the first degree, a Class C felony.

Judge Mark Johnson set Lunsford’s bail at $15,000 cash only, which he posted on Sept. 18, and was released from jail with a Pre-Adjudication No Contact order was also put into effect to prevent Lunsford from making any contact with his children.  

Lunsford was due in court in Sharp County on Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. for his plea date.