A Murfreesboro police officer has been accused of child abuse. Officer Anthony Whitehead was indicted by a grand jury in Rutherford County. The charge Whitehead faces is a misdemeanor charge of child abuse, according to Sgt. Kyle Evans. 

The Murfreesboro Police Department has decommissioned Officer Whitehead until the court case has concluded. Whitehead has been placed on administrative duty. Whitehead turned himself in at the Sheriff’s Department and was released on bond Thursday afternoon.

Whitehead has been a Murfreesboro officer since year 2000. This is his second time to be decommissioned. In year 2008, Whitehead allegedly pulled over a truck that pulled out in front of him and performed what is called a felony stop. Whitehead reportedly ordered the driver out of the truck and told him to then get on the ground. The officer allegedly placed the man in handcuffs. Apparently, Whitehead was accused of using excessive force during a misdemeanor situation. Whitehead issued the driver a citation for failing to yield.  

According to a 2008 article in the Murfreesboro Post, "Whitehead’s personnel file showed he received numerous disciplinary action and suspended days off without pay for missing court, being late to work and abusing the city’s sick leave."

Report from the Rutherford Co. Sheriff's Dept:

A Murfreesboro Police officer was indicted on a misdemeanor child abuse charge this week by the Rutherford County grand jury.

Officer Anthony Whitehead, 39, was accused of physically abusing his 9-year-old daughter in a report filed Sept. 16 at the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Detective Lisa McCallum met with the mother and daughter.

“Both the child and mother advised that the child had been disciplined by her father, Anthony Whitehead, on Sept. 13, causing excessive bruising on  her buttocks and the back of the child’s thigh,” McCallum said.

 McCallum presented her investigation to the grand jury Wednesday whose members issued the indictment.

Whitehead was booked into Rutherford County Adult Detention Center . He was released on $1,500 bond. A hearing is scheduled Nov. 19 in Circuit Court.