Keith Holt and Candy Holt mug shots and body camera screenshot (Blackwater Police Dept.),
A pastor in Oklahoma and his wife have been arrested for allegedly abusing and neglecting their eight children, beating them with a wooden board and locking them in small rooms for days while depriving them of food and water. Keith Holt and Candy Holt were taken into custody earlier this month and charged with multiple crimes, court records obtained by Law&Crime show.
Keith Holt is facing three counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect while his wife was charged with three counts of enabling child abuse and one count of child neglect.
Police said the couple’s eight children range in age from 2 to 17 years old.
According to a probable cause affidavit, child welfare workers contacted police regarding multiple referrals of the children being physically abused by the Holts, specifically, a 14-year-old female in the home referred to in the document as “T.S.” and a 14-year-old male referred to a “J.C.H.” Photos allegedly showed the female with severe bruising and a video allegedly showed J.C.H. saying his father had “punched him and thrown him down the stairs.”