Garrett Anderson: Arizona father accused of spanking his six children with a metal spatula

Gilbert, AZ (KPHO) -- A Gilbert father is accused of spanking his six children, ages 6 to 11, with a metal spatula and a wooden dowel, police said.

Garrett Anderson, 30, was booked into jail Monday on six counts of child abuse.

Each child was spanked four times with the spatula and twice with the dowel, according to a probable cause statement.

One child was singled out and given 30 additional spankings, the court document stated.

The spankings caused visible and significant bruising, according to police.

Anderson spanked five of the six children in an effort to discover which child wrote a hateful message on a piece of paper at their home in Gilbert, the statement said.

One child admitted to creating the hateful message - the other five were spanked without reason, police said.

Garrett admitted in a police interview his spankings went too far and he did not know the injuries his children suffered were that bad, the court document stated.