Delaware Pediatrician Facing Charges for Allegedly "Waterboarding" His Daughter

A Delaware pediatrician faces charges for allegedly “waterboarding” his 11-year-old daughter multiple times while her mother stood by. Dr. Melvin Morse, 58, and his wife Pauline, 40, are facing felony charges including first-degree reckless endangerment. Morse is also facing third-degree assault after he allegedly waterboarded his daughter at least four times in two years as punishment. The police investigation started on July 12 after a neighbor called 911 claiming Morse dragged his daughter by her ankle across a gravel driveway. The 11-year-old told detectives her father would hold her face under running water causing the water to fill her nose. The girl’s younger sister told social workers she had witnessed her father “waterboarding” her sister, but it had never been done to her because she was too young. Both children are in the care of the state Division of Family Services. The state Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to have Morse’s medical license suspended.