FOX News -- A Delaware couple has been arrested after their daughter claimed her father, a doctor who reportedly has appeared on  "Oprah" as an expert on near-death experiences of children, "waterboarded" her while her mother stood by and watched.

MyFoxPhilly.com reports Dr. Melvin Morse, 58, and Pauline Morse, 40, are facing abuse charges stemming from alleged incidents against their two daughters, ages 5 and 11.

Dr. Morse was initially arrested after police received reports he had grabbed his 11-year-old by her ankle and dragged her across a gravel driveway July 12.

The girl then told detectives that over a two-year period she was disciplined by her father using a method he called "waterboarding." She alleged her father, on at least four occasions, held her face under a running faucet, causing the water to go up her nose and all over her face. The alleged incidents occurred between 2009 and 2011, MyFoxPhilly.com reports.

DelawareOnline.com reports the child said her father told her once he “was going to wrap her in a blanket and do it so that she could not move.” Another time she said he told her she "could go five minutes without brain damage." The child told investigators she never knew what she had done to deserve such a punishment.

The child's mother is accused of witnessing the incidents but not doing anything to stop her husband.

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