A former Colorado police officer who was caught on tape abusing his teenage daughter has been sentenced to 30 days in a jail work-release program and three years of supervised probation.
Jeremy Yachik, 35, entered an Alford plea before a Larimer County judge on Monday, to one count of misdemeanor child abuse. The plea means Yachik maintains his innocence, but believes there is a substantial likelihood that he would be found guilty.
"I don't hate him as a person," Yachik's daughter told the judge during the sentencing hearing, according to 9News. "I hate the things that he did. I still love him as my dad. I want him to get help."
In addition to sentencing Yachik to probation and the jail work-release program, the judge ordered Yachik to perform 80 hours of community service and to undergo a domestic violence evaluation, Kwgn.com reported.
Yachik was arrested in October and charged with four counts of child abuse and one count of false imprisonment. The charges stemmed from a video Yachik's ex-girlfriend sent authorities that showed a man hitting and kicking a young girl.
KDVR has posted an excerpt of the video (WARNING: the abuse depicted on the video may be disturbing for some to watch).
According to Thedenverchannel.com, Yachik confirmed to police he was the man shown in the video, which authorities say was taken in July 2012. Police then questioned Yachik's daughter.
The teen told investigators Yachik regularly abused her and had, on at least one occasion, bound her hands with plastic zip ties and slammed her head into a wall, according to a Loveland Police Department arrest affidavit obtained by 9News.
The affidavit further stated the teen, who turned 15 in October, detailed years of physical abuse at the hands of her father, including being kept in a darkened room for hours at a time, being choked to the point of blacking out, and being force-fed hot sauce.
Yachik, who was a Berthoud police officer at the time of his arrest, admitted to doing many of the things the girl accused him of, Thedenverchannel.com reported.
Following Yachik's arrest, he was fired from his job and Town of Berthoud disbanded their police department, opting instead to contract law enforcement services with the county sheriff's office.
After Monday's sentencing hearing, Yachik told 9News what he was doing in the video was physically disciplining his daughter.
"Calling it a beating, I think, is completely inappropriate," Yachik said. "Was it a beating? No. Did it cause an injury? No. Was I being a jerk? Absolutely. Could I have handled it better? Absolutely. Would I ever handle a situation like that again? No."
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