Man accused of assaulting his 11-year-old niece during argument in Miami

MIAMI — A man from Miami-Dade County was arrested on a child abuse charge after police say he assaulted his 11-year-old niece during a family dispute.

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Jail records show Aaron Culpepper, 32, of the county’s Gladeview area, was arrested Tuesday by the Miami Police Department.

According to an arrest report, officers responded to the girl’s home, where she flagged them down.

An officer wrote that the girl was “crying uncontrollably and appeared to be in physical pain” when they arrived.

Miami Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene and evaluated the girl, the report states.

The victim, who is Culpepper’s niece, told investigators the incident began after they had a disagreement involving a shoe and a scooter, according to the report.

The dispute escalated after a cousin informed Culpepper, who then confronted the girl, the report states.

Police said the victim claimed that Culpepper grabbed her by the chest and shirt, grabbed her face, and struck her head multiple times against a wall. An officer said he “noticed a bump on the back of her head.”

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Culpepper was read his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with investigators, according to the report. His statement was redacted in the publicly released report, but he denied pushing the victim’s head into the wall.

The report states Culpepper’s mother gave officers a similar account of the confrontation, saying “all he did was jack her up.”

The girl was taken by her mother to the pediatric unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital for further evaluation, according to police.

Investigators said there may be surveillance video of the incident, though access was not immediately available.

They said they MPD’s Special Victims Unit and the Florida Department of Children and Families were notified, and crime scene investigators documented the victim’s injuries.

As of Friday, Culpepper was being held on a $5,000 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

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