Felony? Babysitter hits 7 year old 20 times with belt, no serious injuries

[kellyg403]

Ummm...yeah she should be charged with something. I also am a parent who does not mind if a sitter or someone corrects my child, even in front of me. But, I draw the line and hitting with a belt. I do not condone that form of discipline, if you tell me when I am hiring you that you do I will not leave my child with you.

FWIW, I grew up in the south with a granny who found no problem sending me out back to get my own switch. She also didn't have any issues with spanking us kids with whatever she found handy, hairbrushes, belts whatever it took. I don't allow spanking with objects and hitting anywhere but the bottom is definitely forbidden in my home.

And I can also reassure you that sometimes I wished it was 20 lashes, it was not abnormal to go until someone was exhausted. It IS child abuse, period but back then it wasn't looked on like that at all. You would see friends in school with switch marks and never thought twice about it. I am glad we have come a long way.

Kelly

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I believe that the spanking was wrong unless the parents expressly gave the baby sitter permission to spank. Even if they did, 20 "whacks" seems a bit over the top. Still, it does not seem that the baby sitter did it out of anger, and the child was not injured, so a felony conviction seems extreme.

Community service should cover this, IMO. Prisons are not built for this type of person - they are built for people who are a real danger to society. Putting this baby sitter in prison will create more problems than it will solve.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

So, someone who would beat a child with a belt 20 times is not a danger? What if the child had been two or three years old?

Why does society have to "wait" until someone who's already proven they can't control themselves actually does SEVERE damage before they are appropriately incarcerated? I think the child beaten has suffered, so should the babysitter.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I haven't read through all the responses yet but what I am curious about is exactly how do they know she hit the child 20 times? Was one of them counting while she was hitting him? I think the 20 times part may be an estimate by the 7 yr old kid. OMG MOM SHE HIT ME 20 TIMES!

Either way I don't think a babysitter should ever physically discipline another person's child. Now if this child attacked her I believe she would have the right to defend herself. Some kids are a little off in the head. I just read a post about a boy attacking his teacher for the third time. Kids will do crazy things sometimes. But to spank a kid for swearing. NO. I would call the parents and let the parents know what happened and tell the parents that if the child was going to behave in that manner that I wouldn't be watching them ever again. But you don't hit.

I think charging her was the right thing to do because those charges will keep her from ever being hired by a daycare or child care facility. But if she does private baby sitting then it may not affect her, unless she gets jail time for it.

 

[kellyg403]

I haven't read through all the responses yet but what I am curious about is exactly how do they know she hit the child 20 times? Was one of them counting while she was hitting him? I think the 20 times part may be an estimate by the 7 yr old kid. OMG MOM SHE HIT ME 20 TIMES!

Either way I don't think a babysitter should ever physically discipline another person's child. Now if this child attacked her I believe she would have the right to defend herself. Some kids are a little off in the head. I just read a post about a boy attacking his teacher for the third time. Kids will do crazy things sometimes. But to spank a kid for swearing. NO. I would call the parents and let the parents know what happened and tell the parents that if the child was going to behave in that manner that I wouldn't be watching them ever again. But you don't hit.

I think charging her was the right thing to do because those charges will keep her from ever being hired by a daycare or child care facility. But if she does private baby sitting then it may not affect her, unless she gets jail time for it.

Good point, how exactly do they know it was 20? Were the drs able to see that number of welts hours later? Or did the little boy say 20?

Kelly