OTTAWA - A 42-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to assault causing bodily harm for spankings that left his seven-year-old adopted daughter's buttocks black and blue with bruises.

He and his wife - who've since given up the little girl and her older brother - told a teacher in an e-mail she was a "manipulative child who does exaggerate."

A teacher noticed she was upset on a Friday in May 2011. She broke down and said her father slapped her on the bum as well as made her write lines as punishment.

The teacher and principal decided to meet with the parents on Monday.

When they shared their concerns with the girl's mother, she said the girl was "difficult." The teacher felt "uneasy."

The next day, the parents sent an e-mail claiming they'd consulted with the Children's Aid Society and it wasn't abusive to spank or have a child write lines.

The same day, the girl told her teacher she'd received "consequences" the night before and "it hurt." The teacher looked at the girl's buttocks and found them 70 to 80% covered with bruises. She called the CAS.

The girl told police she'd been slapped on the bottom three nights in the previous week. Her father would hold her by the arms - which were bruised, too - and closed her bedroom window when she cried.

He was angry, the girl's brother said, that she told a classmate she was being slapped.

Sentencing is set for May 7.