Somerset County -- Reports show, a father, who told police he stunned his newborn daughter with an electric prod and smashed her head off of a sink, was also abused as a child.

Court documents show Brandon Austill was sexually assaulted by a family member, physically and mentally abused by his parents and lived in squalor.

Austill's parents were stripped of their parental rights while he was a young teen. Later, court documents from the Court of Appeals in Jackson, Tenn., showed his parents attempted to regain custody of their six children in 1999.

According to the documents, Austill and his brother slept in the basement of their home where a hole in the wall allowed standing water to form on the floor.

A family counselor said Austill and another family member were repeatedly neglected, physically abused and sexually assaulted by an uncle.

The final portion of the document said the children's many physical and mental deficiencies were too numerous and varied to list.

Austill was arraigned this week on more than 30 charges of physical abuse upon his own baby, including poking her with an electric prod when the infant wouldn't stop crying.

Through their investigation, police also uncovered Austill's MySpace.com account, which was full of dark entries. One posting said, "I see it happen, yet do nothing... I can't fix it alone. I have no one to help me."

Somerset Borough Police Chief Randy Cox said, "We are aware that parental rights were severed by the state of Tennessee for (Austill) and his siblings ... but that has no bearing on our part of the investigation."

Cox also said police have been told of, but have not confirmed, allegations of drug abuse by Austill.

Cox urged residents to contact authorities the moment they notice someone may be abusive or using drugs in order to possibly avoid incidents such as this.