Soldier reportedly holds daughter's head underwater for failing to recite alphabet

A 27-year-old Washington state soldier allegedly admitted Sunday to having held his daughter's head in a bowl of water because she couldn't recite the alphabet.

British newspapers labeled the technique "waterboarding," in reference to the CIA torture measure the Bush Administration employed against terror suspects, though in actuality, waterboarding technically involves covering the individual's face with fabric and pouring water over the nose and mouth to simulate drowning.

The soldier, Joshua Tabor, reportedly told police that he "submerged her face three or four times until the water was lapping around her forehead and jawline."

He allegedly told police he'd chosen a water-based technique because his daughter was terrified of water.

Tabor was arrested after being seen in his neighborhood in a Tacoma suburb wearing a Kevlar helmet and threatening to break windows.

His girlfriend told police that the girl had been found in a closet with bruising on her back and scratch marks on her neck and throat.

In reply to a question about how she got the scratches, the girl purportedly replied: 'Daddy did it.'

Tabor had recently won custody of his four-year-old daughter. Her birth mother lives in Kansas. The daughter's name was not released.

Police did not identify where Tabor had served abroad during his military service. He was stationed at the Lewis-McChord base in Tacoma, Washington.

Editor's note: The article has been re-headlined for accuracy, as the process was not technically waterboarding.