SANPETE COUNTY, Utah, Sept. 21, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — A Sanpete County man was booked into jail for two counts of alleged child abuse, a class A misdemeanor, after he allegedly used an electric cattle prod to “discipline” his young sons.
Gephardt Daily is withholding the name of the man to protect the privacy of his alleged victims.
The man, in his late 40s, is accused of using the electrical device to discipline his sons, who are grade-school age.
In an interview with the younger boy, the child said his father “had used a yellow and green electronic cattle prod upon him as a means of discipline” more than 10 times in the last year, the most recent time being this month. The boy also said his father was using the prod on his older brother as well.
“During the interview, the juvenile alleged that his father applied the cattle prod to his arms, legs, stomach, and chest through his clothing, and on one occasion, directly to his right forearm, causing an injury,” says the arrest document, filed by an officer of the Sanpete County Sheriff‘s Office.
“The juvenile stated that when the cattle prod is applied to his body, it causes extreme pain and feels like being cut in half. After the CJC (Children’s Justice Center) interview, both juvenile brothers were interviewed separately by me, and they corroborated each other’s stories.
“Both brothers provided a detailed description of the location where their father keeps the cattle prod inside the residence, and both boys stated that the application of the cattle prod to their bodies was conducted at their father’s and grandfather’s residence.”
The father was booked into jail on Friday.
Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office and jail. Photo: Google Streets
