police at the scene
A Wisconsin man engaged in alleged string of violent abusive acts on his girlfriend to find out if she was cheating on him. iStock

A Wisconsin man allegedly engaged in a string of abusive acts on his girlfriend, including waterboarding, to find out if she was cheating on him. According to the criminal complaint, the 22-year-old man, identified as Dylan VanCamp, faces six charges of felonies and three misdemeanours for suffocating and stalking his girlfriend.

A Lincoln County District Attorney Don Dunphy who is pursuing the case said: "I pursue these domestic violence cases to let people know we are watching and we are not going to brush these kinds of crimes under the rug." According to the victim, the waterboarding incident, which is aimed at torturing a person into feeling like they are drowning, took place at her apartment. VanCamp had become enraged after seeing his girlfriend on social media, "speaking with a boy she had known for quite some time."

What followed next were face punches followed by threats with a knife. VanCamp then pushed his girlfriend onto the bed with a washcloth placed over her mouth and nose, and poured on several cups of water over her face. "VanCamp dumped about three cups of water, trying to get her to admit that she was cheating with the guy she had been on the computer with," said the police, reported The Washington Post.

The victim had been suffering similar violent methods of abuse for months, however she was too scared of VanCamp to report the crimes to the police. During one of the abuses, VanCamp allegedly apologized repeatedly and in tears told his girlfriend that he is going back to prison. In another incident, he held up a plier and said: "One thing has to go: a tooth or a nail."

Dunphy confirmed, however, that the accused currently stands innocent since the charges are yet to be fully investigated. While the victim has brought forward photos as evidence of the assaults, she told the police most of the evidence was deleted from her phone by VanCamp. If found guilty, VanCamp whose previous criminal history, includes drug possession, battery and bail jumping, could face several years in prison and nearly $25,000 (£17,641) in fines.