Disturbing video footage shows the moment a Missouri father apparently encouraged his six-year-old daughter to keep punching a fellow student aboard a school bus, telling her “I want her crying.”
Police have issued a search warrant for Maurice Fox after the alleged incident Thursday, which happened on a bus in the Ferguson-Florissant School District.
In the video, obtained by KMOV and KSDK, Fox is seen boarding the bus with his daughter and approaching the other student, who is seven years old.
“Do what I told you to do,” a man can be heard saying, before saying to the other child: “Don’t put your hands on my daughter no more… ‘cause if I find out you’re touching her again, your parents will have to talk to me.”
The man then says, “What do you do?,” apparently prompting her to start hitting the other little girl in the head multiple times as Fox watches. The voice then says, “again,” after which the girl continues the assault.
“I want her crying. Again,” he adds, as the girl continues, before then telling her “let’s go.”
Fox now faces charges including one count of first-degree harassment, two counts of assault in the fourth-degree and trespassing on a school bus. A warrant is out for his arrest but as of Tuesday he was not in police custody.
The Independent has reached out to the Ferguson Police Department for updates on the incident.
After the incident, Fox launched a GoFundMe page, which he titled “Help Relocate My Children and Fight Unjust Charges,” though the page has since been taken down.
“This incident is disturbing and completely unacceptable,” said Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle in a statement shared with KMOV and Fox2Now. “We have made several attempts to contact the parent, but he has avoided all efforts to speak with our detectives.”
“However, he has found the time to create a GoFundMe account seeking donations for his legal defense. You cannot crowdsource accountability.
“We urge him to contact the Ferguson Police Department immediately or come in and speak with our investigators to give his account of the incident.”
In a separate statement, the Ferguson-Florissant School District said it was “aware of an incident involving a parent boarding a school bus without permission” and was “fully cooperating with law enforcement as they address this matter.”
“Student and staff safety is always our top priority, and we will not tolerate anything that compromises their safety,” the district said.
“School buses are an extension of the school campus. Trespassing on a school bus and engaging in the behavior described in this incident are completely unacceptable.”
