After learning his disabled wife, 78, who suffers from severe dementia, had an affair 50 years ago, George Kephart, also 78, of Derwood, Maryland became irate and began beating and strangling his wife before inserting a hot curling iron up her vagina, reported KEYE TV. Some days later, his wife’s caretaker arrived at the home and noticed the bruising and the burned scars on her arm, leg, and vaginal area.

The home caretaker immediately called the woman’s son and informed him about the abuse and he later alerted Derwood police. The paramedics later arrived at the home where they transported Kephart’s wife to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. During her stay, the staff reportedly “preformed a sexual assault forensic exam, which revealed torn internal flesh.”

Man arrested for sexually assaulting wife with a curling iron. http://t.co/oLZSqMuiEB — ABC7News (@ABC7News) August 25, 2015

Derwood police officials later arrived at the hospital to interview the wife, who said that she was afraid of her husband as he had abused her for many years. She went on to say that he would repeatedly “burn her with fire” and that she hated him, according to WJLA. She also told investigators that the sexual assault came about when he became suspicious about her cheating in the 1960’s. When he approached her and asked if she cheated, she said yes and that’s when he went berserk.

For the past 15 years, Kephart has worked as a school bus aide for the “Montgomery County Public Schools, serving children with special needs.” However, spokesman Dana Tofig stated those days may be long gone as he has been placed on administrative leave without pay.

Next-door neighbor Zide Anani told reporters that “[Kephart] is a round, short, little guy who is ready to explode at any moment. I’m surprised he didn’t do it earlier because he’s really frustrated with the wife. The wife is a very sick woman. She is not moving, she is on oxygen, she needs help to do her regular things in life and the guy is just really fed up.”

“Crazy man. He is always enraged, really constantly enraged. Even if you talk to him during a normal conversation, a word can set him off. Nothing surprises me with this guy.”

George Kephart was charged with “first-degree sex offense, first-degree assault and vulnerable adult abuse.” He is currently being held at the Montgomery county jail awaiting his preliminary hearing on September 11.

If he is convicted of sexually assaulting his wife with a curling iron, he could face life in prison.

[Image courtesy of Alyssa L. Miller / Flickr / Creative Commons]