Utah man beat, choked and burned girlfriend in 7-hour torture in front of their kids to get cheating confession
CLINTON, UTAH: A man from the Clinton city, Utah, has been jailed for assaulting his girlfriend for hours in front of a toddler. Robert Jay VanVliet tied up, beat, choked, and burned the victim he accused of cheating during a seven-hour torture ordeal in June 2019. The 38-year-old man is facing six years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to abuse charges stemming back from June 4, 2019.
According to a probable cause statement, VanVliet and the victim, whose name has not been disclosed, started arguing about "cheating" around 11 pm on June 3 last year. “The suspect was said to not be getting his version of the truth from the victim, so at approximately 1 a.m. on 06/04/2019, the suspect is alleged to have grabbed the victim by the hair and dragged her to a closet in the room they were in,” the official statement noted.
The statement added: “In the closet, the suspect proceeded to use a belt and tie to choke his victim to the point of losing consciousness while asking for admittance to ‘cheating.’ The suspect, while choking the victim, is also alleged to have been using his fist to assault the victim several times and kicked (her) while on the floor.”
The statement also mentioned that VanVliet and his girlfriend had six children, two of whom they share biologically. All the children were home when the seven-hour long assault happened.
Three hours later after assaulting his girlfriend, VanVliet then took her outside into a trailer parked on the property and tied her to a chair using rope and zip ties. He also brought one of the children into the trailer and gagged the victim with a wadded plastic bag, struck her on the head with a helmet, and used a lighter to burn the tip of her finger while continuing to interrogate her. During the woman’s ordeal in the trailer, VanVliet continued to punch her and threatened to kill her and the child present there.
The document said that the man did not release the victim until 8 am the next morning, after which she was hospitalized. A police statement filed at the time read, “This suspect made several threats to the victim and young child. Victim stated to her he had nothing to live for and would end their life if she did not confess she was cheating. The graphic nature of the violence the suspect is alleged to have committed warrants me to believe that his release from custody will pose an impeccable danger to the victim and their children. One child reported that it is not the first time he has witnessed his father get arrested under similar circumstances.”
VanVliet was reportedly arrested on June 4 and was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. He pleaded guilty to the kidnapping charge on March 3, while the other two charges were dropped in the deal with prosecutors. VanVliet was given six years to life in prison on April 23. He was also ordered to seek substance abuse and domestic violence treatment at the prison.