An aspiring Republican lawmaker lost his parental rights after he his ex-wife allegedly forced his children to drink vinegar as part of extreme punishments, according to court documents.
Anthony Dunham, 42, is running for the Arizona Senate on a platform of ‘protecting children.’
But in 2022, the father of three was deemed temporarily unfit to look after his own offspring following allegations of abuse in his home which have recently resurfaced.
Dunham’s ex-wife Sara Marie Bogan allegedly forced the candidate’s 12-year-old daughter to drink apple cider vinegar until she vomited, among other unusual punishments, according to court documents.
Dunham admitted to The Arizona Republic that he stood by and watched as his ex-wife allegedly inflicted the harsh discipline.
‘It had a bitter taste to it, so that was her form of unconventional discipline,’ he said. ‘That’s why we were in counseling and therapy together.’
But Pima County Superior Court Judge Randi Burnett called the disciplinary measures in his home ‘abuse.’ She suspended his parenting time and ordered him to take parenting classes according to court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Dunham told the Daily Mail: ‘This was a temporary and unfortunate situation. I quickly regained custody of my children, and the courts fully restored my parental rights which I maintain to this day.
Anthony Dunham, 42, is running for Arizona’s legislature. He temporarily lost parental rights in 2022 due to extreme punishments allegedly inflicted on his children by his second ex-wife, according to court documents
Dunham’s second ex-wife, Sara Marie Bogan (pictured), forced the candidate’s oldest daughter to drink vinegar until she vomited, according to court documents
Dunham’s children were aged four, five and twelve at the time of the alleged extreme punishments. The candidate is pictured with his children in a Christmas photo
‘I immediately regained joint custody and joint legal decision making with my kids mother. My kids and I maintain a healthy relationship and the kids are thriving.
‘The circumstances surrounding this event were unfortunate. We all know that relationships sometimes fail.
Dunham was married to Bogan for less than two years. During this time his children aged four, five and twelve were allegedly subjected to extreme discipline in their marital home.
This allegedly included vinegar being sprayed in their faces, ‘bare-bottom’ spanking, being forced to stand in a corner for half an hour and being locked in bedrooms for so long that they sometimes had to urinate on the floor, according to court documents.
No punishments were ever determined to have been illegal and criminal charges were never brought forward. Court documents also indicate that Bogan was allegedly the one who carried out most of the extreme disciplinary measures.
Bogan was Dunham’s second wife. His first, Breanna Dawn Dunham, filed for divorce in 2020. During the divorce proceedings, a judge wrote that the two ‘struggled to communicate and co-parent with each other.’
In May 2022, Breanna petitioned to have Dunham’s parenting time restricted ‘due to the serious nature of the child abuse happening,’ she alleged.
The document also accused Dunham of coaching his youngest daughter to make allegations she had been inappropriately touched by Breanna’s new fiancé.
Dunham admitted that he was in the room when his ex-wife allegedly forced his oldest daughter to drink vinegar
Dunham denied being aware of the most severe punishments that his children allegedly endured at the hands of his second ex-wife. He is pictured with his children
Dunham allegedly subjected his daughter to two ‘invasive’ medical examinations to look for evidence of sexual abuse, according to Breanna’s lawyer, who claimed the examinations were ‘abusive’ and ‘despicable’ as they were unwarranted.
Additionally, the petition noted that a Department of Children’s Services (DCS) caseworker believed Dunham’s daughter ‘made statements indicating she was coached’ by him.
The lawyer claimed that Dunham’s actions were an attempt to get the court to favor his parenting plan.
Dunham denied the coaching allegations to The Arizona Republic and said his daughter told him she had been touched inappropriately, leaving him no choice but to report it.
Dunham’s three children shared a household with four children belonging to Bogan but were allegedly subjected to vastly different treatment.
Breanna’s petition claimed that hers and Dunham’s children were subjected to more severe punishments and compared to Bogan’s.
Bogan’s children were allowed to eat ‘McDonalds or pizza’ while the candidate’s children had to eat rice and beans as punishment, according to the petition obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Bogan had previously been banned by the court from using corporal punishment on her own children in 2019, but she would routinely spank Dunham’s children, according to the petition.
There were a total of seven children living in the household with Dunham and his second ex-wife. She is pictured with her four children
Bogan was accused of dishing out unequal punishments to her own children compared to Dunham’s children
Dunham’s suspension of parental rights lasted about six months and he denied being aware of his second ex-wife’s more severe punishments.
He said that the incident when Bogan made his daughter drink vinegar until she threw up was his breaking point, and court records show he filed for divorce a month later.
‘I’ve had nothing to do with Sara since our divorce,’ he told The Arizona Republic. ‘I mean, literally, I have not had any conversations with her.’
Court records show that Dunham now has a 50-50 coparenting plan and joint legal decision-making with his first ex-wife.
Dunham told The Arizona Republic that he knew the court records about his divorce and the petition alleging child abuse by his ex-wife would surface when he filed to run for state legislature.
He is hoping to defeat school district board member Christopher King in the Republican primary before facing off against Edgar Soto, the Democratic candidate.
Dunham has been endorsed by Turning Point Action, which describes him as ‘a Christian conservative, Iraq War veteran, retired law enforcement officer, and father of three.’
He added that he would be ‘okay as long as the facts are put out there’ and that ‘voters should consider every aspect of a candidate when they’re going to the polls.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bogan and Breanna’s lawyer for comment.
