PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say a 28-year-old Florida man faces a child abuse charge after they say he beat an 8-year-old boy and threatened to feed him to alligators.

According to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office report, the child told deputies that Dereck Dunn took him to a pond behind their home on Tuesday and made the threat. They returned to the house and the boy says Dunn pushed his face into the carpet until he couldn't breathe, and hit him several times with a belt.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that Dunn told deputies he was only joking when he threatened the boy and he denied hitting him.

Dunn posted a $7,500 bond on Thursday. Records didn't list an attorney for Dunn. The relationship between Dunn and the boy wasn't explained.

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Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal