Pedro Argote beat daughter with belt, was abusive: testimony

The fugitive accused of gunning down a Maryland judge in his driveway beat his teen daughter with a belt and silenced his infant child by stuffing a towel in his mouth, according to harrowing divorce court testimony.

Pedro Argote, who remains on the run after allegedly shooting Judge Andrew Wilkinson dead last week, also installed cameras inside his family’s home to keep tabs on his eldest daughter — whom he kept largely confined to her bedroom for years, she claimed in court.

The description of “shocking” abuse prompted Wilkinson to rule against Argote and grant his wife custody of their four kids — just hours before police say Wilkinson was gunned down.

“The reason I worked up the courage to testify was so that my siblings wouldn’t have to go through the mental torment that I currently have,” Argote’s eldest daughter from an earlier relationship testified.

She also said she left home at 18 and cut off all contact with her father because of his treatment.

Argote’s wife, Eugenia, said he had handled the family finances and business ventures, including a food truck and digital advertising company.

He was also controlling of his wife’s personal life and limited her access to their shared family vehicle, she told the court.

Eugenia said the abuse got worse last year when she announced plans to leave him. The worried wife requested a protective order against Argote, who she said carried a gun and kept “surveilling” her.

Nonetheless, the estranged couple reached a “nesting agreement” which required him to live on the ground floor of the family home while Eugenia and the kids would remain upstairs.

To accommodate this, a domestic violence order Eugenia had obtained was canceled three weeks after it was issued.

Wilkinson, stunned by the level of abuse described by Argote’s family, ruled in favor of the beleaguered wife on Thursday and granted her custody of their children, who are between 3 and 12 years old.

“The manner in which Mr. Argote has isolated these children and mom over the past two years, I think that has gone on throughout the marriage, and it’s shocking,” the judge said. “I think he is abusive in multiple ways.”

Argote, 49, was a no-show at the hearing — but showed up outside Wilkinson’s house later in the day and shot the judge dead before going on the run, according to police.

He remains the subject of a massive manhunt, with the US Marshal Service offering a $10,000 reward.

Meanwhile, police are providing security for his family.

With Post wires