PORT ANGELES — Closing arguments are expected this afternoon in the assault trial of a Sequim man who branded his three children like cattle as “a family thing.”
Mark J. Seamands, 39, testified this morning that he made a small metal branding iron carrying the letters “SK” — for “Seamands Kids” — then heated the letters using the propane flame of a crab-cooker and branded his then-13-year-old son on the chest and his then-15-year-old son on the arm.
He branded them on Nov. 25, 2008, after they asked him to do it, the father and both boys testified.
On the same day, a friend branded “SK” on the arm of the father with the same red-hot branding iron, according to the father’s testimony.
The father also branded his then-18-year-old daughter.
Seamands said he had permission to brand the boys from the children’s mother, with whom he was going through a divorce at the time.
But Seamands’ ex-wife told police that she was horrified when she saw the brands burned into the youngest boy’s chest, the other boy’s arm and the calf of the daughter’s leg.
Seamands is charged with two counts of second-degree assault-domestic violence involving the two boys. He was not charged for branding his daughter because she was old enough to give consent.
The daughter testified earlier in defense of her father and said that the branding was voluntary.
Seamands said he “barely” touched his two sons with the approximately 3-inch-by-3-inch branding iron, and that he researched the procedure and bought medication to use on them after he branded them.
In a family video played for the jury of the 13-year-old being branded, the boy is seen flinching when the brand was applied, then again as it was applied a second time to the same spot to better define the mark, Seamands said.
“I believe this helped amplify the fact that I would be there for them through anything,” Seamands said.
Branding with the “SK” is “a family thing,” he said in an interview he recorded with authorities and played for the nine-man, four-women jury, which includes one alternate.
“It’s been a family brand for as long as I’ve been alive,” Seamands said.
In other testimony this morning, Seamands’ two sons said the procedure did not hurt or disfigure them.
“I asked to be branded,” said the younger son, now 15.
He wanted to be branded, he said, “because I was going to be part of this family my whole life.”
Clallam County Superior Judge Brooke S. Taylor ruled against against a motion for dismissal by Port Angeles lawyer Loren Oakley of the county Public Defender’s Office.
Oakley argued there was insufficient evidence of second-degree assault or criminal intent to commit battery.
In denying the motion, Taylor said the boys suffered second-degree burns and that children cannot consent to be assaulted, which includes being intentionally burned.
When notified of the branding, Child Protective Services did not take any action against Seamands, Seamands testified.
Copyright 2010 Peninsula Daily News. Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
