The husband of missing Michigan mom Lynette Hooker was previously charged with child abuse after he allegedly pinned his daughter up against a wall because he was furious her mom was teaching her creationism, court documents show.
Brian Hooker, 59, was detained back in December 2005, after his previous partner, Elizabeth Hoseth, called the Kentwood Police Department in Michigan to claim that he assaulted their homeschooled daughter.
The alleged incident came to light as Hooker was detained in the Bahamas in connection with the disappearance of his wife, who he claimed fell off the couple’s dinghy on the night of April 4.
The child, whose age at the time is not disclosed, was staying over at her father’s and Lynette’s house for a scheduled visitation when Hooker became enraged at a science book she was reading.
“[She] said that her dad was upset about what the book said because he didn’t want [her] to believe in God,” Hoseth said, as documented in a police report seen by The Post.
The mother claimed Hooker chased her daughter up the stairs, where one of his stepdaughters saw the alleged abuse.
“She saw her dad hold [the daughter] up in the air by the neck,” the report states.
The stepdaughter later claimed Hooker lifted his daughter’s feet up to a foot and a half off the ground during the alleged encounter, in a separate interview with the police.
“She turned, and he grabbed her around the neck and picked her up by her neck, slammed her against the wall, and started choking her. He was holding her above his head,” the police report states.
He also demanded she show him respect as he choked her and reportedly put his hands around her neck multiple times.
Hooker reportedly said he would take Hoseth to court because she was homeschooling his son and daughter with a creationist education.
He also allegedly called his daughter a “s–thead, a stuck-up manipulative b–ch,” according to the documents.
Hooker eventually let his daughter go and said “he was disappointed that he hadn’t left his thumbprints,” the report states.
Pictures in the police report show the child with red marks on her neck following the alleged attack.
The girl suffered a neck strain in the course of the attack from her father, according to the documents.
Hooker reportedly emailed his daughter’s stepfather following the incident on Nov. 8, 2005, in which he admitted “the kids and I had a rough time tonight.”
He claimed he had been triggered by his daughter calling him “a bastard” after the pair argued over a creationist science book the girl’s mother was using to homeschool her.
Hooker was subsequently arraigned on the charge of Child Abuse 4th Degree on Nov. 22, 2005, and was ordered not to have contact with his minor children.
Lynette testified that her husband hadn’t choked his daughter.
The case was subsequently dismissed on Feb. 2, 2006, but no further details were available.
The documents were uncovered after Lynette’s daughter from a previous marriage, Karli Aylesworth, accused her stepfather of having a violent side in an interview with Fox News following her mother’s disappearance.
She claimed that he had previously choked out Lynette and threatened to throw her overboard.
The couple, who reportedly sold their home in 2020 and bought their yacht, called “Soulmate,” were sailing off the coast of the Bahamas when Lynette went missing.
Hooker, who was detained by police in the tourist hotspot last Wednesday, was released on Monday following the expiration of a deadline to charge him.
However, it isn’t clear if he will be permitted to leave the Bahamas or if police will subsequently rearrest him.
Hooker has strenuously denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and vowed to resume searching for her following his release.
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