WCSO deputy charged with child abuse

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WALA) - A Walton County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on charges that he battered a minor following an argument in the car as the victim got ready for school.

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said the deputy, Christopher Strawn, was cooperating fully and  was placed on administrative leave after authorities transported and booked him into the Walton County Department of Corrections on Monday, March 18.

A statement attributed to Sheriff Adkinson said, “(Strawn,) understanding that dealing with a juvenile, even one who almost an adult and acting aggressively, is a situation where the system is set to make sure there are no questions about what happened.”

Strawn was charged with child abuse, a third-degree felony.

Authorities said they responded to the deputy's Roberts Dr. home on Monday morning, and that the alleged abuse happened as the minor was getting ready for school.  They said, after Strawn and the minor got into an argument in the car, the minor ran from the vehicle and locked himself inside Strawn’s home.

Deputy Strawn got into the house and went to the victim’s room where authorities said the argument turned physical, “when Strawn held down the victim in an attempt to calm the minor down.”

Authorities said witnesses told them the minor, who had abrasions on his neck after the incident, had been displaying behavioral problems for some time.