James Olander Peace is charged with felony injury to a child.
Peace's wife says the court records in this case do not tell the full story.
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She says her husband was sticking up for her daughter after the young girl was bullied by the 12-year-old classmate and his friend while walking home from school.
"Saying that her body was ugly, said that she was a transvestite, started throwing ice cream at her and then they picked up the rocks," said Peace's wife, who asked to remain anonymous.
She says her daughter called and asked for a ride home, and that's when investigators say Peace saw the 12-year-old and his friend walking.
"On the drive home, they happened to see the suspect juvenile walking, and that's when the stepdad decided to stop and confront the kid," Deer Park Police Lieutenant Chris Brown said.
Investigators are using nearby surveillance video as part of the case, which caught the encounter.
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Brown says Peace was shouting at the 12-year-old boy and then hit him.
"He was slapped across the face with an open hand, had red marks and swelling to his cheek and upper jaw," Brown said.
Court records say after the slap, Peace threatened the boy not to tell police or he'd beat him up.
Peace's wife says her husband's emotions got the best of him.
"I do not agree with what he did," she said. "He took it too far. He did."
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