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A North Carolina man was beaten up last week by the father of two small children he was accused of molesting while visiting a home in Spotsylvania County over the holidays, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Capt. Liz Scott said deputies had to rescue the suspect from further injury after responding to a 911 call. Scott said the father had already obtained a weapon and that deputies may have saved the suspect’s life.

Mark Anthony Stanley, 60, of Burlington, N.C., is charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and assault. He is being held without bond in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

According to Scott, Stanley came to Spotsylvania to visit relatives. On Dec. 29, Scott said, the father of the children, ages 2 and 3, woke up at 6:30 a.m. and went to check on them. He walked into the room and told authorities he caught Stanley nude from the waist down while molesting the children.

“It was an absolutely horrible incident,” Scott said.

According to Scott, after the father asked what he was doing, Stanley pushed the father out of the room and locked the door. The father then forced the door open and began beating Stanley, she said.