Stepfather Allegedly Beats Up, Strangles Children For Not Doing Chores 'To His Satisfaction'

A man in North Carolina was taken into custody for allegedly physically abusing his stepchildren for not doing their chores to his satisfaction.

Jimmy Ray Brafford, 35, of Burlington, was facing charges after the juveniles, aged 12 and 13, showed signs of being abused by him, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office said in their statement released Thursday.

Brafford was arrested Tuesday for child abuse and strangulation after the Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) investigated a child abuse report, according to WXII 12 NEWS. Officials found the two minors with signs of bruising and marks on their bodies.

"On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) Investigators took a report of child abuse. Investigators learned that two juveniles, 12 and 13 years old, displayed signs of bruising and marks on their body consistent with that of a beating," the statement said.

"The children reported that their step-father, identified as Jimmy Ray Brafford, had punished them for not performing their chores to his satisfaction," the statement added.

Investigators began searching for the accused stepfather as he had fled the residence at some point. Deputies from the Caswell County Sheriff's Office managed to track him down and take him into custody.

Brafford was "apprehended by the Caswell County Sheriff's Office at his parent's home in Caswell County," the statement continued. "Mr. Brafford was taken into custody by Alamance County SVU Investigators and transported to the Alamance County Detention Center."

The stepfather was served with Domestic Violence Protection Orders while being held in custody, according to WRAL.

He was charged with two counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury and two counts of felony assault by strangulation. The whereabouts of the children's mother was not revealed by the authorities.

In an unrelated incident reported last month, a stepfather in Telangana, India, was accused of strangling and killing his 17-year-old stepdaughter after catching her speaking on the phone late at night. The stepfather suspected the teenager was talking to a lover or a male friend at around 1 a.m., and snatched the phone away from her. The altercation between the stepfather and victim turned violent as he physically assaulted her and strangled her to death before turning himself in to the police.