Peabody Father Charged With Assaulting Daughter Over Snapchat Use

PEABODY (CBS) -- A Peabody man was charged with beating his 11-year-old daughter, while family members say he was attempting to discipline the girl for using popular social media app Snapchat.

Prosecutor Deirdre Foley read aloud in court Wednesday, someone "entered the bedroom and observed the defendant, Mr. Nguyen, hitting his daughter several times with a leather belt as she had laid on the bed. He had pulled her hair as she ran away and grabbed her by the throat and choked her."

Sean Nguyen, 31, faces charges of strangulation and assault and battery of a child. He is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.

Peabody Police said other people who were present told them Nguyen was trying to discipline the girl but went too far.

It was the man's two sisters that brought his daughter to the police station following the incident.

Michele Nguyen recalled, "he was yelling for her phone, which she did not give to him."

"My first reaction was to grab my niece and take her out of the situation, make sure she's okay," she said.

According to family members, Nguyen was upset that the girl had installed Snapchat on her phone.

"My niece had over 800 friends, but she doesn't know 800 people. My brother's concern was some of those people could be perverts. So she deleted her whole account, that did come about at the end, the account is gone," Michele explained.

Nguyen's lawyer in court said there was not enough evidence that the incident occurred.

Police confirmed the girl was not physically injured. She is staying with families members.

The Department of Children and Families was notified and is investigating.