A police officer in Austin, Texas, is facing a criminal investigation after multiple disturbing videos were released to authorities that allegedly show him abusing his 2-year-old son.
Austin police officer Cameron Caldwell surrendered himself to a county jail after being accused of child abuse by the mother of his children, according to the Cedar Park Police Department.
Court documents obtained by KVUE state that the allegations stem from a domestic disturbance that took place at Caldwell’s home on June 17.
Caldwell’s partner showed police five videos, including one of “great concern,” that allegedly show Caldwell hitting and abusing one of his two children.
The videos were recorded by a Nest camera posted in the kids’ bedroom.
In one video, a 2-year-old child is seen trying to protect himself before a man believed to be Caldwell picks him up, “violently” hits him on his backside, then strikes him eight times before dropping him on the ground, according to the local outlet.
The child is seen “crying hysterically” and trying to crawl away before Caldwell picks him up again and slams him on a mattress, court filings state. Caldwell then hits the toddler in the face three times and covers him with a blanket.
Caldwell’s 4-year-old son told detectives that his father once hurled a monster truck at his back and slapped him in the face in another incident. He also alleged that Caldwell hits him multiple times when he’s in trouble and forces him to do push-ups.
Caldwell is the same officer who was caught on video pepper-spraying a handcuffed Black man at the South by Southwest film and music festival in 2016.
Tyrone Wilson, who had traveled to Austin that year from Chicago, was arrested for resisting arrest. After officers placed the 25-year-old in a police van, he was heard kicking the door. Caldwell opened the door to the back seat and told him to stop kicking, then pepper-sprayed him in the face.
An arrest affidavit stated that Wilson had been combative toward officers, and one cop had used a stun gun on him during the arrest. Austin Police policy dictates that officers can use pepper spray on a “violent” suspect, but Wilson was physically restrained and showed no signs of aggression when Caldwell maced him.
Caldwell faced a disciplinary hearing and negotiated an agreement with the Austin police chief to face a 45-day suspension from his position for the incident.
“In the heat of the moment where you have a guy kicking and screaming and acting a fool, he made a decision, it was the wrong decision,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said at the time, according to the local outlet. “But what he has indicated to us through this process is that he gets it.”
As for the most recent alleged incidents involving Caldwell’s children, the Austin Police Department said it’s aware of the investigation being carried out by the Cedar Park police force.
Caldwell faces two charges of injury to a child.
APD has placed him on restricted duty for the time being and launched an administrative investigation.
