The man overseeing the West Virginia Department of Education's nationally recognized child-feeding programs has been charged by police after he allegedly tried to strangle another department employee whom he's been dating and threw her to the ground, and also grabbed her son by the throat and "slammed him to the ground."
Richard Goff, of Culloden, has been charged with battery, domestic battery and driving under the influence, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam County Magistrate Court.
Goff is executive director of the state Office of Child Nutrition. West Virginia recently received accolades from a national scorecard that ranked the state No. 1 in the U.S. for school breakfast participation for the second consecutive year.
According to the criminal complaint, Putnam County sheriff's deputies responded Saturday to a report of a "domestic in progress" on Kingswood Estates in Culloden. Eric Tolbert told a deputy that he called 911 after a child from across the street knocked on his door to seek help.
Tolbert told the deputy that he saw a woman whom Goff has been dating get into her vehicle and try to leave, but Goff opened the back door and tried to "extract one of the kids from the back seat."
According to Cpl. Daniel A. Redka's report, Tolbert said the woman then jumped into the back of the vehicle and got between the child and Goff. Tolbert said Goff then tried to choke the woman, but Tolbert was able to pull Goff out of the vehicle.
Redka wrote in the complaint that he saw Goff pull his vehicle into a driveway across the street, and Goff "had a tear and dirt on the right chest area of the shirt." The deputy wrote that Goff also smelled strongly of alcohol, but declined to take sobriety tests.
The complaint states Goff's girlfriend told another deputy that Goff's son had wanted to call his mother, but Goff took the phone from him. The girlfriend said she then put herself between Goff and his son.
"Goff grabbed her by the arms and threw her down twice one time resulting in her hitting head (sic) and causing an injury," the woman said. "She further advised that he grabbed her by the throat multiple times."
The woman, according to the complaint, also said Goff slammed her foot in the door when she was trying to get into the car and grabbed her son by the throat and slammed him to the ground.
The deputy saw redness on the girlfriend's neck and face, rug burn on her son's right elbow and redness on his chest.
Heather Hutchens, general counsel at the state Education Department, said the department just received the complaint Monday morning.
"We are aware of it, but since it is a personnel issue, we cannot comment at this point," she said.
When asked about department policies for handling similar allegations, Hutchens said the department deals "with these situations on a case by case basis."
Goff did not return a request for comment Monday.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.