Family therapist charged with domestic battery

TAMPA -- Michael Anthony Holder is a family therapist who conducts at-home "Dynamic Parenting Courses" to correct negative patterns in children's behaviors.

But he's in jail now, after Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputies charged him with two counts of domestic battery, including the battery by strangulation of his 15-year-old stepson.

An arrest report says that during a domestic argument, Holder, 39, grabbed the boy by his neck, restricting his airflow, and that he inflicted several lacerations to the boy's arms and face and left a contusion on his left arm.

The report states that Holder denied strangling the boy, but admitted to having touched him in an attempt to get his stepson out of his living quarters.

The report lists Holder's place of employment as ACTS, a non-profit agency that provides services from help with substance abuse to mental illness to child protection.

Holder is being held at Orient Road Jail with no bond.

-- Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer