MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man who hit his children with a belt because he thought they drank his energy drink and lied about it will be doing 80 hours of community service.

Arvin Solis, 31, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to third-degree child assault. Following a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Kevin McCrae and defense attorney Michael Morgan, Solis was sentenced under a first-time offender waiver of a standard sentence and sentenced to 10 days in jail, which were converted to 80 hours of community service.

Solis was initially charged with three counts of third-degree assault of a child, but two of the counts were dismissed in a plea agreement between McCrae and Morgan.

In mid-March the Moses Lake Police Department was made aware of the potential abuse of a child after an education assistant at a local school overheard a student stating Solis had been “hurting” him. The child was interviewed by police and detailed an incident on March 12, when someone drank an energy drink that was in his residence, according to court documents.

The boy said he and his sister were questioned about consuming the drink, but they both denied it. He said the next day after he arrived home from school Solis continued to ask questions about the drink and made him and his two sisters line up in the kitchen. Each child was hit with a leather belt.

“All three children were told to go into a bedroom and Arvin eventually called (them) out one-by-one. Arvin questioned the children individually and they continued to deny drinking the drink,” wrote a officer.

Solis lined up the three children a second time and proceeded to hit them with the belt again. The boy claimed Solis also hit them with a power cord and jumper cables. The boy’s sister gave police a similar account, with bruises on both of the children further corroborating their stories. Solis admitted to lining up the three children and using a belt to spank them two separate times.

“I asked Arvin about using a small power cord and jumper cables. Arvin denied using the power cord and jumper cables. Arvin stated he picked up a surge protector to scare the children and he had moved the jumper cables in order to pick up the surge protector,” wrote a officer. “After further questioning Arvin never denied hitting the children with the belt and even stated he believed he went a little too far.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.