MILWAUKEE – Days after being arrested and suspended, a Milwaukee police officer has been charged with physical abuse of a child as well as strangulation and suffocation.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office filed the two charges against MPD officer Frank Williams on Saturday, January 20. If convicted, Williams could face up to 12 years in prison.
According to a statement from the Milwaukee Police Department to WTMJ on Thursday, officers responded to a hospital on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, shortly after 9:30 p.m. for a child abuse investigation. After arriving, they found a seven-year-old child who was being treated for “non-fatal injuries.”
Williams was arrested on Thursday, January 18 and placed on “full suspension.”
According to a criminal complaint, the incident involved physical abuse and strangulation on January 16, 2024, at the Williams’ home in Milwaukee. Prosecutors said that in an interview, the seven-year-old victim said Williams hit both them and another child with a belt, as well as choking them to a point where they coughed and struggled to breathe.
The complaint claims this was not the first time the victim had been physically assaulted by Williams.
Our news partners at TMJ4 News report that neighbors of Williams said he was usually very calm and kept to himself, with no signs that there was something wrong at his house.
This is a developing story and will be updated with new information.
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