A man who allegedly placed a plastic bag over his daughter’s mouth and held her down on a mattress is in police custody.

Captain Paul Forrester tells KSAL News that 56-year-old Terry L. Huehl was arrested on Monday night after investigators spoke with an 8-year-old girl at Salina Regional Health Center.

Police say the victim stays with her dad during the weekends and her mother noticed she was not acting normal after a visit on Sunday night.

The girl told detectives while she was staying with him at the Village Inn, 453 S. Broadway, he choked her and threw things at her, pushed her into a wall and at one point forced her down on a mattress and covered her mouth with a plastic bag.

“He tried to kill me,” she said.

Police found red marks on her throat consistent with being strangled.

Huehl was booked into the Saline County Jail Monday night on numerous charges that could include abuse of a child, aggravated battery, endangering a child and criminal threat.

56-year-old Terry L. Huehl