Man charged for choking child, spanking ‘to excess’

WASILLA — A man who spanked his child daughter hard enough to bruise on Super Bowl Sunday now faces assault charges, court documents show.

A Palmer grand jury indicted Joshua J. Ness, 31, of Wasilla on one count each of second-degree and third-degree assault for spanking a two-year-old girl, causing bruising, according to an indictment filed Feb. 13 in superior court and an affidavit written by Wasilla Police Officer Dan Bennett. The man’s eight-year-old son told investigators Ness had previously choked him multiple times, according to an affidavit.

The girl’s mother contacted Wasilla Police after the girl complained of pain while sitting, and the girl’s mother spotted and photographed suspicious bruises while changing a diaper, according to the affidavit.

“Daddy spanked me really hard,” the girl told a child advocate without being asked, according to the affidavit.

When the advocate asked for more information, the girl told her interviewer it was because she didn’t shut a closet door, according to the affidavit.

In a separate interview, the girl’s older half-brother told authorities his father had choked him as punishment after he failed to retrieve a box when asked, according to the affidavit.

The boy “indicated verbally and through the use of dolls that he was kneeling down on the ground and Ness was kneeling and used both hands and placed them around his neck,” Bennett wrote. The boy “stated that he squeezed really hard and that he was unable to breathe. (He) stated that when Ness let go, it still felt as though Ness was still gripping his throat. (He) started coughing and then started to cry.”

“It sorta hurted,” the boy told his interviewer, according to the affidavit.

Other witnesses and family remembers reported they had seen incidents involving Ness’s inappropriate discipline of the children, including other incidents of choking, according to the affidavit. One incident was apparently so severe that family members intervened to prevent escalation, according to the affidavit. Another witness told police that Ness would routinely not bathe his daughter during week-long visits, according to the affidavit.

Ness told police he didn’t spank his children at all, and told police “that if there are bruises on his daughter’s butt then that means somebody spanked her way too hard, but he would not spank his child in that manner,” Bennett wrote.

Wasilla Police arrested Ness Feb. 6 about 2:30 p.m. at his house, according to the affidavit. When police showed up at his front door, Ness told authorities the other witnesses were all lying, and that his daughter was “brainwashed” to repeat allegations of abuse. Asked about the choking incident, alleged to have happened around Christmas 2014, Ness told Police he could produce 12 witnesses that were with him on Christmas Day who would testify, according to the affidavit.

Ness received $5,000 bond plus court-appointed third-party custody requirements, court documents show. He posted bond by Feb. 10, court documents show.

The charges constitute Ness’s first felony case, according to Alaska Court records. Ness had previously been hit with and filed for numerous restraining orders, dating back to 2000.

Second-degree assault is a class B felony, punishable by a maximum ten-year sentence on conviction, and a maximum fine of $100,000.

Third-degree assault is a class C felony, punishable by a maximum five-year sentence on conviction and a maximum fine of $50,000.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.