By Suzie Ziegler
KINGMAN, Ariz. — An Arizona police officer is officially the proud father of 4-year-old Kaila, whom he met two years ago during a child abuse case.
The pair bonded while waiting for child services to show up, coloring and watching Wreck-It Ralph, Officer Brian Zach told CBS 5.
As a Kingman police officer, Zach says he sees a lot of child abuse cases.
“There’s always kids that I would bond with and I’d love to take them out of bad situations and just bring them home,” he said.
Kaila was one of those kids.
When child services couldn’t find any family members willing to take Kaila, Zach and his wife Cierra brough her home.
“She came with a bag of clothes that didn’t fit her and a sippy cup and that was it,” he said. “We had to get a bed. We had to get a high chair, potty chair.”
According to CBS 5, Zach and his wife finalized the adoption process over the summer. Kaila is now enrolled in a charter school and doing well with her new family.
“When we got her she knew three words. Basically, she grunted like a caveman. She didn’t know how to talk. And now she loves to talk,” Zach said.
The couple says they’re planning to renew their foster license to help more kids.
“I would definitely encourage people to do it because there’s so many kids who need guys even if it’s just for a small amount of time you can make such an impact,” Cierra Zach told CBS 5.
NEXT: How one child abuse call changed a cop’s life