Posted on 06/15/2011 3:21:35 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
CORPUS CHRISTI - Spanking your kids can send you to jail.
This week, a local woman avoided jail time, but her case made it clear that local prosecutors and judges will not tolerate what used to be a much more accepted practice.
Back in December, police arrested Rosalina Gonzales for Injury to a Child, related to the spanking of her daughter, who was nearly two years old at the time.
It was her daughter's grandmother who noticed red marks on the child's rear end, and took her to Driscoll Children's Hospital to be checked out.
Wednesday, Gonzales was in court to plead guilty to the charge after reaching an agreement with prosecutors.
She'll be on probation for five years and during that time, will have to take parenting classes, follow all CPS guidelines, and make a one-time $50 payment to the Children's Advocacy Center.
But before she was let go, 214th District Court Judge Jose Longoria made it very clear to her and everyone else that even a simple straight forward case of spanking is a crime.
"You don't spank children today," said Longoria, "in the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don't spank children. You understand?"
Gonzales answered, "Yes, sir."
Gonzales currently does not have custody of the two-year-old victim or her other two children.
She is working with CPS to get them back, but until the state feels that she is ready, the kids will remain with their paternal grandmother.
The Texas Attorney General's office declined to comment today on the legality of spanking.
A spokesman referred us to the Nueces County District Attorney's office, but Mark Skurka did not return our call for comment.
A CPS spokesman did tell us that spanking is considered criminal when it injures a child.
We found the following information on the Texas Attorney General's website under the title "Is Spanking Okay?":
"Texas law allows the use of force, but not deadly force, against a child by the child's parent, guardian, or other person who is acting in loco parentis. Most parents do, in fact, use corporal punishment (in the form of spanking) at least occasionally, and most do not, in fact, consider it abusive. Experts disagree about the advisability of ever spanking a child. Some say that, combined with other methods of discipline, mild spanking of a small child is harmless and effective. Others claim that other methods of discipline work as well as spanking or better, and that spanking is not necessary. Many child advocates and experts in child development contend that all forms of corporal punishment, including spanking, are harmful. Most believe that spanking an infant is always inappropriate. The law does not attempt to arbitrate between the different views on the best method of disciplining a child. What we do know is that severe corporal punishment can be extremely damaging and dangerous, and this is what the law prohibits as abuse."
The mother in law must have some good connections.
Was it a hand on the butt spanking or was it a belt or paddle on the butt? Was it just a slight red mark that faded or did it leave an injury that required medical attention?
Abuse is not spanking. I think most Prosecuters know this so I think it must have riaen to a level of injury that triggered investigation.
Yep...and I have seen parents like Forgetten amendments try to negotiate with the little 2 year olds. It works "GREAT" /sarcasm
Of course...if the parents would just pop the little devil on the rear...they would save themselves (and the restaurant) a lifetime of pain.
Anything done in a rage is assault.
Anything that leaves marks is assault.
Especially to a two-year old.
People who take two year olds to restaurants and expect them to be quiet are sadistic idiots. And rude. Rude to the kids (who are probably socked in day care all day) and rude to the other patrons. And calling two year olds names is disgusting.
“A baby is a “little twerp”?
I hope you don’t mean that. “
You’re damn RIGHT I meant it. And I’ve made damn sure my kids know that. And you know what, it works. They know that praise is EARNED, not dished out to help their precious self-esteem. If they’re acting like Shiite, I let them know it - and I don’t use the religious version of the term.
I figure my kids have to learn to live in the REAL WORLD once they leave the nest and my job is to PREPARE them for that, and yet still make it clear that they’re loved in our home.
So tell me, how many kids do you have, how old are they, do any of them have criminal records?
Ha ha. Are you proud of the fact that you can't write sentences? Maybe you weren't beaten enough at age 2.
“I think most Prosecutors know this so I think it must have risen to a level of injury that triggered investigation.”
I’ve been there. I would not count on it. The judge’s comments in particular:
“You don’t spank children today,” said Longoria, “in the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don’t spank children. You understand?”
-raises several red flags for me. I do NOT assume our ‘system’ works. I have seen the machine in action.
“Besides, gotta keep those conviction stats up in order to get re-elected.”
SHHHHhhhhhhh!!! Be vewy, vewy quiet, heheheheh!
An increasing number of people who won’t disciple 2 year olds are one reason we are facing troubles in our society. You can’t reason with a 2 year old...and no two year old was ever damaged from a swat on the rear. The number of two year olds that learned correct societal behavior from a swat on the rear: beyond number.
What's being left out here is that she didn't spank a "child". She spanked a baby! Spanking Junior when he smokes behind the barn is a whole lot different than hitting a BABY! Jeez.
4 kids and they all got their butts whooped by the age of two. A child knows what "No" means before the age of one, unless your kids are slow. I guess you have a right to called it "barbaric", but I call BS on your reasoning.
Get off the baby kick. A two year old is not an infant. Through most of human history two year olds are beginning to assist in the simplest household tasks.
Your comments are also at variance with and immaterial to what the somewhat incoherent judge said.
Under one is a baby. Once they start walking they are toddlers.
Really you don’t have to get hysterical about it. Plenty of people have given their toddlers a little swat to get their attention.
America has lost it's mind.
There's really no hope for it's return, either.
Through most of human history, parents cared for their two year olds. Round the clock. And they loved it. Now, they pop 'em out, throw 'em into daycare, and expect them to be perfect. Parents in America are mostly selfish brats and a lot of people on FR are too, it seems. IMHO this all started in 1973!
True, so when the little satanic bastard horror-children cockroach-like vermin come anywhere near me, I try not to call them names, I just shout "F*** OFF!" and hurl heavy, breakable objects near the little demon-seed creeps.
I don't know what really happened in this case (thanks to incompetent journalism) but that statement from the judge is a broad brush of the law and he's full of it. What the heck was the "different quarrel" in "the old days?" Do kids not misbehave today? Do they not respond to discipline? I think a stroll through Youtube should be enough to answer that question.
Maybe hizzoner will stop at a Mickey D's and get his ass beat by some kids and find a clue in the process.
OF COURSE there's nothing wrong with "a little swat" to a toddler! This lady is accused of much worse. What's upsetting to me (am I "hysterical"?) are the people calling their own little toddlers "brats" and "twerps" and advocating serious corporal punishment for these kids who can barely walk and talk. That's creepy.
Thanks for the nice tone of your post.
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