LITTLE ROCK, AR – The parents of a 4-year-old boy have filed a lawsuit alleging their son was beaten by an instuctor at Anderson’s Taekwondo Center in November 2014.
The lawsuit alleges that the child’s mother found “severe black, blue, purple and red colored bruising” while she was giving him a bath.
The boy was allegedly paddled in a “punishment room” by Bobby Sykes, 35, after a worker noted an unsatisfactory report in their pre-K daily school folder.
The lawsuit claims that a punishment it calls “sadistic ‘ice cream and cake'” forced a child to select one of three paddles to “be used to administer their beating.”
Sykes was arrested on June 1 and charged with 2nd degree battery.
The family announced the lawsuit filed against Sykes at a Friday afternoon news conference.
See the lawsuit attached above or click here to read.
See the lawsuit attached above or click here to read.
ATA International released the following statement regarding the allegations:
“ATA International, Inc., takes this allegation very seriously and does not condone any form of corporal punishment as part of the ATA curriculum. After being made aware of the allegation late this afternoon, ATA took swift and decisive action to suspend the licensee Mr. Anderson from any further participation with ATA. ATA holds all of its worldwide licensees to the highest of standards and has a zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior.”