Saturday, March 29, 2008; Posted: 07:05 AM
George "Bigfoot" William Block, 48, and his wife, Julia Mary Block, 47, manager of the Young Years Day Care Center where the incident reportedly took place, were charged with child endangerment, Jasper police said
Witnesses said George Block bound the 4-year-old's wrists and feet with duct tape before dangling him over a "metal trash dumpster," according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The Blocks declined to comment after their release Friday from the Jasper County Jail on $5,000 bond each.
Court papers indicate Julia Block endorsed her husband's actions as discipline for the boy "after a day of very disruptive behavior."
George Block, who is not employed at the day care at 1082 Houston, has a previous conviction in Orange County for a Class A misdemeanor assault. In that case, he got probation, according to court records.
A criminal history would bar anyone from being employed at a licensed child-care facility.
The 5-foot-10, 240-pound George Block is known at the day care as "Bigfoot," according to witness accounts in court papers.
When interviewed by child abuse investigators, the boy said "Bigfoot" wrapped his wrists and ankles with tape and held him over a large trash receptacle, according to court papers.
Regardless of whether they are convicted of criminal charges in the case, Julia Block could be banned from working in child care if state regulators find reason to believe the allegations are true, a state official said Friday.
The incident, which court papers indicate occurred March 3, could lead to increased oversight for the day care by state regulators, said Shari Pulliam, spokeswoman for the local office of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
"It appears it was of no fault of the day care owners," Pulliam said. "They were not involved in any of the allegations that were made.
"But if the allegations are found to be true, we would be taking some type of action toward the day care itself. We could put them on a probationary period, and they would have to meet certain conditions. It could be extra training that we might ask them to provide their staff on how to discipline children in a correct manner."
The day care is owned by Walter L. Bailey Jr. and Linda G Mattox, according to country records.
Reached by phone Friday, Bailey said he knew little about the accusations. He said he had met Julia Block but did not know her husband.
The day care has had trouble meeting state standards in the past, according to state records.
During the most recent inspection Feb. 8, when the day care was evaluated on more than 400 standards, six violations were noted, including not checking employee backgrounds and failing to maintain required student-staff ratios, according to state records.
Some things, like student-teacher ratios, can be corrected at the inspection, while a deadline is set to correct other infractions, Pulliam said. Other state visits and verifications follow.
As of Friday, one of the six violations -- CPR training documentation on one employee -- remained unresolved, according to a report from the latest inspection.
Failing to meet state standards is not unusual for day cares, Pulliam said.
"That's typical," she said. "That happens all the time. There are a lot of standards to meet in owning a day care. A whole lot."
Some Jasper residents interviewed Friday said they were unaware of the arrests.
Interviewed outside the Jasper post office, retired teacher Arnette Coleman said it never is appropriate to duct-tape a child "under any circumstances."
"As a teacher, I cannot condone duct-taping a child," she said.
Flora Bartee, a 44-year-old Jasper resident, said the thought of treating a child that way was "horrible."
"If he did it, he should be locked up," she said.
The specter of race crept into the issue when Jasper residents heard the story Thursday on KJAS radio station's regular community forum "Jasper Thursday," said Mike Lout, station owner and news director.
The Blocks are white and the child in the case is black.
Some callers speculated the incident was racially based, Lout said.
Police were quick to disagree.
"There doesn't appear to be any racial undertones or motives to this at all," Jasper Police Detective Chris Ensign said by phone Friday. "I talked to the mother again this morning, and she has said the same thing."
Pulliam echoed Ensign, noting she had no indication of race being a factor in the event.
Charles Adams, who has a grandson in day care at Young Years, said there needs to be an open discussion about the case, regardless of whether race was a factor.
"We need to talk about these things," the 74-year-old black Jasper resident said. "We'll never get along if we don't ever talk.
"Everything that goes down doesn't have to be racism ... but we ought to be able to talk about it without everybody getting mad and labeling us as being racist."
Adams said Jasper still bears the wounds of racist allegations from the past.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of James Byrd Jr.'s dragging death.
"And if you can't talk about the wounds, they'll stay forever," Adams added.
To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.www.beaumontenterprise.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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