Bad Dad: Sick, Stupid or Just a Jerk

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

No, not the dad who spends more time, money and energy entertaining his girlfriend than his kid. I'm talking about Todd Marcum, the father who gives new meaning to the word "repulsive."

The Oregon father of four young children recently admitted to police that he regularly used an electronic dog collar to shock his children.

So why would a grown man terrorize a 9,8,6, and 3-year-old with a device used to control animals?

According to police, Marcum didn't use the electronic dog collar as a form of punishment, or as a way to shock his kids into submission. Rather, arresting officers say Marcum did it, "because he thought it was funny."

Apparently, Marcum thought it was a barrel of laughs to see the fear in his children's eyes when he dangled the dog collar in front of them. The 41-year-old father further confessed that he would place the dog collar around his 3-year-old son's neck and chase him around, making him cry at the thought of being shocked.

That's what Marcum did for kicks. Goodness knows what he did to those kids when he was angry with them.

Marcum was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mistreatment and is currently in jail. Meanwhile, the children are at home with their mother. No word on where she was when her deranged husband was torturing the kids.

In regards to the children's physical health, a rep for the company that makes the electronic dog collars told news reporters that the device Marcum used on his kids runs off of a 9-volt battery, which doesn't produce enough of a shock to seriously harm humans.

According to the company spokesperson, "He definitely would not have hurt them to the point that it would have damaged any organs or caused them to be hospitalized."

As for the degree of psychological pain Marcum inflicted on his children, experts say that remains to be seen. Though, I doubt any child could escape serious emotional scars after being forced to wear a dog collar by his/her father, and then be jolted with an electric shock, whenever he needed a good laugh.

So, is this dad sick or just shockingly stupid?

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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