Mother gets five years probation for spanking son with belt

ktrk ^

[chance33_98]

Mother gets five years probation for spanking son with belt By The Associated Press (5/16/03 - BRYAN, TX) — A Bryan woman has been sentenced to five years probation for reckless injury to a child for beating her 6-year-old son during a spanking.

Jurors convicted Shanetta Richardson, 26, last month of the felony.

Richardson testified she used a leather belt in January 2002 to discipline her son after he ripped his brother's baptism certificate in half. She said she didn't think the punishment was unreasonable.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Mother gets five years probation for spanking son with belt

I guess the stories about Texas being tough on criminals are right....

What a message this sends out....Get ready for tons of kids sueing or turning in their parents....

[goodieD]

I'll bet those "horror stories" you were told all involved evil birth parents and never foster parents....because as we all know..children are far more safe in foster homes..despite the overwhelming evidence that children in foster homes are abused far more often... despite the fact that in the last 2 years, 4 foster parents were convicted of murdering their foster children, and 12 were convicted of molesting them...don't believe everything you hear from CPS types.. they tend to lie. Over 80 percent of "abuse" cases turn out to be false. A parent can have their children taken away over an anonymous tip from an angry neighbor. The term 'lacerations' in this case were used because it sounded worse..

[skinnycat6]

yeah, I agree, lacerations are NOT part of a normal spanking.And all over his arms, etc.? THAT sounds like merciless assault to ME. I'd like to see her pick on someone her own size. I dont spank MY kids and they turned out fine.
If any teacher EVER hit my kid, (or hubby ever hit him)the offender would pull back a bloody stump and there would be assault charges filed. Hate breeds hate.Even if it's disguised as discipline.

[Cagey]

The term 'lacerations' in this case were used because it sounded worse..

And, you know that how? Right, you just assumed that. This trial was by jury with more than one witness to the child's lacerations. Or, do you conclude that no child is ever beaten and not just spanked?

[Jeff Chandler]

Discipline itself must be administered with discipline, and the worst time to spank a child is when you are steaming mad.

If you leave a worse mark than redness, you're crossing the line, IMHO.

[Maigrey]

My mom would be sitting somewhere else besides home right now if this was the case while I was growing up (and this was within the last 20 years.....)

[Maigrey]

Sounds more like a whuppin' to me. I dunno. I wasn't there and didn't hear the evidence...

[joesnuffy]

My pop and my mom would also doing LWOP
had they been forced by big sister & big brother not to
I would be

[Between the Lines]

Amazing how so many reporters get away without the basics in their works.

With missing information like the first article and exaggerations in the second article like this....
Both the school nurse and a CPS investigator testified that the lashing was one of the worst cases of abuse in the name of discipline they had ever experienced
...... one can never be sure of the truth.

[SouthernFreebird]

I'm a spanker.... I have no problem with popping some butt but she went over the line..... never cuts and bruises and over the arms and chest..not good.

[ditto h]

I never spanked my daughter, but I was spanked many times. I think it helped to make me a better person. When I see how kids are today, I wonder why corporal punishment is not more the norm.

[Arthur McGowan]

Okay. Have you read post #20, which has a more complete account? Ready to write a retraction?

[Arthur McGowan]

I'll bet that ALL children who are into drugs and crime have been hit at home a lot more than "good" kids.

[billhilly]

Guess they'll just have to dig my dear old mother and daddy up and punish them for the way they raised five kids, mostly on love, and occasionally with the rod. Even then, It was motivated by love. The same kind of love that a bear cub gets when it's mother corrects a possible fatal behavior problem by a sharp cuff up alongside the head.

[Glenn]

I'll bet that ALL children who are into drugs and crime have been hit at home a lot more than "good" kids.

I'd take that bet, if there were solid science to decide who was right. There isn't. Courts and jurors are subjective, i.e., OJ is still playing golf.

If this mother deserved 5 years probation, that child (or any other child) should not be in her custody.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Well, leaving the marks from the stitches on the belt on the child does qualify as excessive, in my book, and for her attorney to say it was just a "spanking" casts a bad light on every parent who DOES spank their children.

I remember trying to occasionally spank my oldest child, a boy (who just graduated from college yesterday at the age of 27 -- took him awhile because he is married, has a full time job and two babies, and who has gotten a pilot slot with the Air National Guard to fly C-130's -- yes, I had to brag)and he was so big and fast (I'm 5'2 and weighed about 110 then) I had to link arms with him and swing with my paddle while we went around in circles. We ended up laughing a good bit, as I remember.

[Cagey]

Well, leaving the marks from the stitches on the belt on the child does qualify as excessive, in my book, and for her attorney to say it was just a "spanking" casts a bad light on every parent who DOES spank their children.

Did you miss the word "lacerations"?

[Cagey]

Oppps, my error. I misread and thought you said it "doesn't" qualify as excessive when in fact you feel it does. I hope you accept my apology as I'm certain I'm not nearly as tough as your son and I'd be afraid of that paddle of yours too. LOL

[najida]

Erm, the horror stories involved birth parents, outta control girlfriends, drunk boyfriends, over-sized siblings....whatever.

From my own childhood, parents 'can' beat their kids....
I know...

I was spanked by my mother....I knew I was loved.
I was beaten by my dad.....I thought I was gonna die.

Big difference.

[tomakaze]

re:Okay. Have you read post #20, which has a more complete account? Ready to write a retraction?
 
Duly noted- and no, I'm not.