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Surveillance footage has surfaced capturing an Idaho couple allegedly mistreating their 7-year-old daughter during a visit to an aquarium, leading to felony charges being filed against them.
The incident is reported to have occurred on February 8 at the East Idaho Aquarium in Idaho Falls, according to East Idaho News. The video reveals Megan Anne Olpin, 31, striking her daughter in the face with a shoe and dragging her around the venue.
Zachary Royce Olpin, 30, was observed slamming the girl’s head against an electrical box before forcibly removing her from the premises.
An Idaho Falls Police detective interviewed the child’s grandmother, who provided photos displaying the girl’s bruises and marks. The young girl also confided in her grandmother about being struck in the mouth by her mother.
During the investigation, Zachary Olpin claimed the incident was accidental, asserting he was unaware that the child’s head had hit the electrical box. Meanwhile, Megan Olpin acknowledged hitting her daughter with a shoe and later admitted to using a set of keys to strike her while in the car.
Detectives made arrangements for the girl to stay with her grandmother while they continued their investigation.
Police obtained the full security video — they had previously only seen snippets recorded by an officer on a cell phone — and saw that the mother hit the child multiple times with the shoe and knocked her to the ground. The father was seen shoving the girl down by the mouth when she tried to get up and the carrying out of the aquarium.
Once outside, he was seen slamming the girl’s head into a wooden structure and then using his shoulder to push her head into a metal box three times.
A few days later, investigators again interviewed the couple. By that time, the father said he had been out of line and had written an apology letter, as had the mother.
A week later, child advocates interviewed the girl, who said that her mother had “bonked her head with a shoe and that her father kept “bonking” her head because he was mad. She also said her mother used a key to scratch her arm.
Zachary Olpin was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of injury to a child. Megan Olpin was charged with the same counts, plus a felony county of aggravated battery. Both are scheduled to appeared in court on March 24.