Police say a Tinmouth man stabbed a woman in front of their daughter and then coached the girl to lie about it.

Kevin Frederick, 29, of McCoy Road, pleaded innocent Monday in Rutland Criminal Court to charges of domestic assault and interference with access to emergency services. He was released on the conditions including that he stay away from the woman and their children. If convicted, he could face a maximum of two and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Police said they arrived at the family home Friday afternoon in response to a family fight complaint and found the woman “crying profusely, and physically trembling.” She said a dispute escalated to Frederick stabbing her in the forearm with a pair of scissors, according to affidavits, and unplugging the phone to keep her from calling for help before hitting himself in the head with a metal space heater.

Police said the woman’s arm had several fresh puncture wounds.

Frederick’s account of events, according to police, was that the woman hit him in the face and then stabbed herself with the scissors.

Police said three small children were in the room for the fight, and that the oldest, an eight-year-old, initially backed Frederick’s story.

However, police said that after a discussion of the difference between truth and lies, the girl told them Frederick had stabbed her
mother and then told her to tell the police her mother had stabbed himself.

The affidavit noted that state law allows a court to consider the presence of small children during a crime when it determines sentences.

gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com