Oklahoma GOP State Rep. Ty Burns Pleads Guilty To Domestic Abuse

An Oklahoma GOP state representative pleaded guilty to domestic abuse and assault after police said he attempted to “gouge” out his wife’s eye and also ran his 16-year-old daughter off the road.

State Rep. Ty Burns pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor counts on Thursday. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Burns will have to complete a batterers’ intervention program as part of his sentencing.

On Thanksgiving last year, Burns and his wife got into an argument that turned violent, police said.

″[She] made plans to do something with friends and Ty got mad at her,” a probable cause affidavit said. ”[She] told Ty he was too controlling, and that she was going. Ty followed into the bathroom.”

That’s when Burns “forcefully tried to gouge her eye out with his finger” and broke a blood vessel in her eye, the affidavit said.

In a separate incident in April, Burns got upset and used his pickup truck to run his 16-year-old daughter and her friend off the road. Investigators reviewed text messages from Burns’ daughter that said he was “fucking crazy.”

“These are serious charges,“ Drummond said in a statement. “While there is no excuse for domestic violence, I am encouraged that the representative has taken responsibility for his actions and will receive counseling under terms of his sentence. Domestic violence is tragically all too common in our state. It must stop.”

Following his guilty plea, Burns said he’d be stepping down from his position as chair of the Appropriations and Budget Finance Subcommittee.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and have started a year-long batterers intervention program and am getting treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and learning how to deal with past experiences in a more healthy manner,” Burns said in a statement. “I know I must do better for myself and my family. I deeply regret what occurred and am prepared to be held accountable for my actions.”