A US soldier has been charged with “waterboarding” his four-year-old daughter because she could not recite her ABCs, police in the state of Washington say.

In a fit of rage and under the influence of alcohol, 27-year-old Joshua Tabor and his girlfriend pushed his daughter’s head, face up, under a running tap in the kitchen sink, says Yelm police chief Todd Stancil.

“And to make it only worse, the daughter is afraid of water,” the police chief said.

“She would not recite her ABCs, is what we gathered. So according to him (the father), that was a perfectly fine punishment,” he said.

Police found the girl hiding in a bathroom after responding to reports of a disturbance early on January 31.

“The suspect was intoxicated, walking around the neighbourhood with a kevlar helmet, threatening to break out windows in the neighbourhood,” he said.

Read this rest of this disgusting and disturbing tale here. (We taking bets on if the US media will pick this story up?)