Father Allegedly Forced Daughter Into Wooden-Sword Duel

A Washington State father has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, after allegedly beating his teenage daughter and forcing her to  fight him medieval-style, with a wooden sword.

Fremon Seay, 38, allegedly beat his daughter, 16, with swatches made from wood branches, severely bruising her legs, according to Lt. Greg Elwin of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

He then allegedly forced her to put on Renaissance-style body armor (usually used for role-playing games) and fight him with a sword made out of wood.

“They were fighting for about two hours, wearing Renaissance-type armor and fighting with swords fashioned out of wood,” Elwin said of the allegations. “She’s a 100-pound girl, and he’s a 300-pound adult.”

The alleged two-hour battle left her with bruises and welts all across her body.

It’s unclear why Seay was punishing his daughter to begin with, police said, although he apparently made comments to police about her being a runaway and being somewhere she shouldn’t have been. But investigators say no missing person’s report was filed, and they aren’t sure how or why the girl returned home.

After several hours of punishment, officials said, she was able to send a text message to a friend, who then called the police.

When officers arrived Sunday to arrest him, Elwin said he was a “Renaissance fighter,” telling the responding deputies that “she’s 16 now, so we can fight to resolve these things.”

Seay’s wife, Julie Seay, was also arrested as an alleged accessory to assault with a deadly weapon. Both husband and wife were released on bail Monday, and investigators expect charges to be filed in the next few days.

The couple have other children, none of whom have been placed into protective custody. The 16-year-old daughter is staying with another family member. Authorities are investigating the couple to determine whether other charges should be filed.