Domestic assault filed against Newton County deputy/school resource officer

A deputy in Newton County, Missouri, has been charged with domestic assault.

40-year-old Joseph E. Childers was taken into custody after the alleged incident Saturday.

Court documents show that officers responded to a domestic situation within at a home in Neosho, where they found the victim with a large bruise around her left eye starting from the center edge of the eye traveling to the lower right side of the eye. She also had bruising around the left side of the throat that would indicate choking.

Officers say Childers also took the victim’s cell phone from her so she couldn’t call law enforcement. She also allegedly refused to allow officers to take pictures of her injuries.

Childers was a school resource officer at Diamond last semester.

He is being held in the McDonald County Jail with no bond.