CPS gets 'Spanked' - paddling father vindicated by court

Paddling father vindicated by court
8/11/2007 7:40:59 AM

By Shannon Prather

St. Paul Pioneer Press

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmana...p?z=2&a=303711


BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Shawn Fraser said he loved his son too much to
spare the rod.

"I didn't want to injure him. I didn't want to hurt him," Fraser said.
"I just wanted to give him a little hot seat."

It took a court hearing and a victory on appeal to vindicate his
parental rights.

The Bloomington father said he and his wife, Natalie, first tried
grounding their defiant 12-year-old son. They say he stole money from
the family, disappeared for hours without permission, and then lied
about where he had been.

"I really didn't want to spank him," Fraser, a devout Christian, said.
"A father disciplines a child he loves."

The Frasers feared the worst for their son -- alcohol, drugs,
shoplifting, peer pressure, sexual activity.

So the father, who says he does not belong to a church, relied on
biblical guidance. He fashioned a wooden paddle about the size of his
hand. On June 29, 2005, when his son disappeared from the house and lied
about it upon his return, he used that paddle 36 times.

Within hours, police came knocking. Their son, who had slipped out of
the house after the paddling, was swept up in Hennepin County's
child-protection system.

What followed was a two-year court battle with child protection; six
agonizing months away from their children, who were placed in emergency
foster care; a Hennepin County judge who made a finding of physical
abuse; and, finally, last week, vindication.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's finding of
physical abuse against the couple. Parents enjoy a "wide degree of
latitude regarding the discipline of their children," a three-judge
panel concluded for the court, though it also questioned whether Shawn
Fraser's actions constituted an "appropriate parental response."

Fraser said he fought the case instead of cutting a deal because he
loves his children and was acting in their best interests.

"I knew there were other people who suffered worse than I had," Fraser
explained. "This wasn't just about me. I wasn't going to buckle."

The Frasers' attorneys say an overreaching arm of the government
intruded into families, with political correctness run amok.

"Parents have a fundamental right to raise their children," said
attorney Jill Clark. "The issue isn't if the government would do it
differently. Government is becoming a third parent leaning over
everyone's shoulder."

Hennepin County Child Protection would not discuss the specifics of the
Fraser case but said simple spanking doesn't trigger an investigation.

"The state is not saying you can't spank your child. They are saying you
can't go overboard," said Harvey Linder, a Hennepin County
child-protection program manager. "The state is saying if you are going
to use corporal punishment on your child, it can't be excessive and
malicious."

Fraser, 36, grew up in Prior Lake. Natalie, 43, was raised in the Virgin
Islands. The couple married 16 years ago. Fraser has worked as a custom
cabinetmaker but also works general labor jobs. Natalie Fraser works in
a kitchen of a hotel.

Fraser said he and his wife had made their two sons their top priority.
The couple home-schooled the boys until third or fourth grade.

When the boys enrolled in school, their older son -- a boy with a tender
heart, a creative streak and a love for animals -- struggled with his peers.

"He had trouble fitting in," Fraser said.

As the boys grew, Fraser worried the older one was picking up some bad
behavior -- leaving the house without permission, being defiant and
listening to music with explicit lyrics.

"He was taking lyrics and showing them to girls in his class," Fraser
said. "He thought that was an appropriate thing to do."

The parents worried their son's moral compass was veering in the wrong
direction.

"He was seeing all these things that are supposed to be the norm and
they're not," Fraser said. "It was this entitlement feeling -- he could
have his way. I wanted to show him the right way."

Fraser had paddled the boys when they were younger but had more or less
stopped the practice. Now he resorted to the paddle again.

"He's a good boy, but I knew he would suffer far worse if he continued
his ways," Fraser said of his older son.

He warned both his sons by posting on the refrigerator Bible verses
relating to discipline. The father said he vowed never to physically
discipline his children when angry and reserved it for the most serious
offenses -- "for things that if you did them as an adult, it would be
against the law."

The older boy continued to sneak out for hours on end, sending the
family into a frenzy searching for the preteen. The family missed
appointments and work while looking for the boy.

The night of the paddling, the older son had sneaked out, returned home
and denied ever leaving. Fraser administered 12 smacks with the paddle
-- one for each year of the boy's life. When he threw what the father
called a "temper tantrum," he got paddled 12 more times.

"I felt terrible, but I knew I had to be firm," Fraser said. "He was a
big boy" -- 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds, according to
court filings.

The son then picked up a kitchen knife and threatened to kill himself.
Fraser took the knife from the boy's hand, spanked him 12 more times and
sent him to bed.

Fraser said his son never exhibited depression or any other suicidal
symptoms.

"He was being defiant," Fraser said. "He was escalating the situation."

As the boy got into bed, Fraser said he told him: "You know not to run
off. You are smarter than this."

The boy sneaked out that night. Police found him walking along a road
and came to the couple's home. The officer said there appeared to be no
marks on the boy but repeatedly asked Fraser how many times he had
spanked his son.

Within a week, both children were whisked into emergency foster care.

The older son was immediately removed. Child-protection officials took
the younger son, then 11, from an overnight Bible camp days later. The
younger boy, now 13, feared he would never be returned to his parents,
he said in an interview.

Fraser said, "It looked like we were going to lose our parental rights
.... I was told I was using barbaric methods."

Their house, once filled with the energy of two young boys, was silent.
There was no more family talk at the dinner table, no more hugs
throughout the day, Fraser said, speaking through tears

"We didn't eat much," he said. "We had a hard time sleeping."

In December, the couple retained attorneys Jill Clark and Jill Waite.
Within weeks, they helped the Frasers regain custody of their children.
But the court case continued, with the family still supervised by child
protection. The couple were not allowed to spank their children.

At trial, Hennepin County District Judge Pamela Alexander labeled the 36
paddlings "physical abuse."

After the finding, the Frasers maintained custody of their children.
Child protection's continued oversight of the family was minimal, the
family's attorneys say.

Fraser said his oldest son's behavior continued to deteriorate. He kept
leaving the house. Instead of taking $20 or $40, he'd take $100. The
couple refinanced their home, withdrew up to $40,000 in equity and sent
their son to a Christian boarding school in Utah.

The boy, now 14, remains at the school.

"They take away the luxuries," Fraser said. "They learn to appreciate
reading instead of video games and the boob tube. It's not a
free-for-all environment."

He said his son is participating in the school's football program.

Spanking isn't illegal and doesn't automatically trigger an
investigation, said Linder, the Hennepin County child-protection program
manager.

Of the 14,834 reports of child abuse and neglect reported to Hennepin
County in 2005, almost 8,700 were screened out and no file was opened.
Of the remaining case, 1,600 ended with staff concluding there was
evidence of substantial maltreatment.

Linder estimated about 600 children in the county are placed in foster
care each year. Judges must approve those placements. Most return home
or to another relative or friend's home within six months.

Linder said social workers try to work with families in cases of
inappropriate discipline but said some parents view the social workers
as intruders.

Linder said there's no clear-cut definition of what constitutes
malicious or excessive punishment. State law says parents should not hit
children on the neck or head. Social workers often look to see whether
discipline causes bruising or marks.

He said parents often revert to corporal punishment because it's how
they were raised or they feel their religious beliefs call for such
measures.

Linder said, "Do social services providers in general frown on spanking?
Yes. Does child protection say you can't spank your kids? No.

"The norm in the human-services field is the belief that there are
better ways to discipline kids than by corporal punishment."

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:51:38 GMT, Jane Fondle
wrote:

Paddling father vindicated by court
8/11/2007 7:40:59 AM

You saw a part of this that you thought would support your biases,
didn't you, Dennis?

But you didn't read it all, did you?

Try it. You won't like it.



By Shannon Prather

St. Paul Pioneer Press

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmana...p?z=2&a=303711


BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Shawn Fraser said he loved his son too much to
spare the rod.

"I didn't want to injure him. I didn't want to hurt him," Fraser said.
"I just wanted to give him a little hot seat."

It took a court hearing and a victory on appeal to vindicate his
parental rights.

The Bloomington father said he and his wife, Natalie, first tried
grounding their defiant 12-year-old son. They say he stole money from
the family, disappeared for hours without permission, and then lied
about where he had been.

"I really didn't want to spank him," Fraser, a devout Christian, said.
"A father disciplines a child he loves."

The Frasers feared the worst for their son -- alcohol, drugs,
shoplifting, peer pressure, sexual activity.

So the father, who says he does not belong to a church, relied on
biblical guidance. He fashioned a wooden paddle about the size of his
hand. On June 29, 2005, when his son disappeared from the house and lied
about it upon his return, he used that paddle 36 times.

Within hours, police came knocking. Their son, who had slipped out of
the house after the paddling, was swept up in Hennepin County's
child-protection system.

What followed was a two-year court battle with child protection; six
agonizing months away from their children, who were placed in emergency
foster care; a Hennepin County judge who made a finding of physical
abuse; and, finally, last week, vindication.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's finding of
physical abuse against the couple. Parents enjoy a "wide degree of
latitude regarding the discipline of their children," a three-judge
panel concluded for the court, though it also questioned whether Shawn
Fraser's actions constituted an "appropriate parental response."

Fraser said he fought the case instead of cutting a deal because he
loves his children and was acting in their best interests.

"I knew there were other people who suffered worse than I had," Fraser
explained. "This wasn't just about me. I wasn't going to buckle."

The Frasers' attorneys say an overreaching arm of the government
intruded into families, with political correctness run amok.

"Parents have a fundamental right to raise their children," said
attorney Jill Clark. "The issue isn't if the government would do it
differently. Government is becoming a third parent leaning over
everyone's shoulder."

Hennepin County Child Protection would not discuss the specifics of the
Fraser case but said simple spanking doesn't trigger an investigation.

"The state is not saying you can't spank your child. They are saying you
can't go overboard," said Harvey Linder, a Hennepin County
child-protection program manager. "The state is saying if you are going
to use corporal punishment on your child, it can't be excessive and
malicious."

Fraser, 36, grew up in Prior Lake. Natalie, 43, was raised in the Virgin
Islands. The couple married 16 years ago. Fraser has worked as a custom
cabinetmaker but also works general labor jobs. Natalie Fraser works in
a kitchen of a hotel.

Fraser said he and his wife had made their two sons their top priority.
The couple home-schooled the boys until third or fourth grade.

When the boys enrolled in school, their older son -- a boy with a tender
heart, a creative streak and a love for animals -- struggled with his peers.

"He had trouble fitting in," Fraser said.

As the boys grew, Fraser worried the older one was picking up some bad
behavior -- leaving the house without permission, being defiant and
listening to music with explicit lyrics.

"He was taking lyrics and showing them to girls in his class," Fraser
said. "He thought that was an appropriate thing to do."

The parents worried their son's moral compass was veering in the wrong
direction.

"He was seeing all these things that are supposed to be the norm and
they're not," Fraser said. "It was this entitlement feeling -- he could
have his way. I wanted to show him the right way."

Fraser had paddled the boys when they were younger but had more or less
stopped the practice. Now he resorted to the paddle again.

"He's a good boy, but I knew he would suffer far worse if he continued
his ways," Fraser said of his older son.

He warned both his sons by posting on the refrigerator Bible verses
relating to discipline. The father said he vowed never to physically
discipline his children when angry and reserved it for the most serious
offenses -- "for things that if you did them as an adult, it would be
against the law."

The older boy continued to sneak out for hours on end, sending the
family into a frenzy searching for the preteen. The family missed
appointments and work while looking for the boy.

The night of the paddling, the older son had sneaked out, returned home
and denied ever leaving. Fraser administered 12 smacks with the paddle
-- one for each year of the boy's life. When he threw what the father
called a "temper tantrum," he got paddled 12 more times.

"I felt terrible, but I knew I had to be firm," Fraser said. "He was a
big boy" -- 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds, according to
court filings.

The son then picked up a kitchen knife and threatened to kill himself.
Fraser took the knife from the boy's hand, spanked him 12 more times and
sent him to bed.

Fraser said his son never exhibited depression or any other suicidal
symptoms.

"He was being defiant," Fraser said. "He was escalating the situation."

As the boy got into bed, Fraser said he told him: "You know not to run
off. You are smarter than this."

The boy sneaked out that night. Police found him walking along a road
and came to the couple's home. The officer said there appeared to be no
marks on the boy but repeatedly asked Fraser how many times he had
spanked his son.

Within a week, both children were whisked into emergency foster care.

The older son was immediately removed. Child-protection officials took
the younger son, then 11, from an overnight Bible camp days later. The
younger boy, now 13, feared he would never be returned to his parents,
he said in an interview.

Fraser said, "It looked like we were going to lose our parental rights
... I was told I was using barbaric methods."

Their house, once filled with the energy of two young boys, was silent.
There was no more family talk at the dinner table, no more hugs
throughout the day, Fraser said, speaking through tears

"We didn't eat much," he said. "We had a hard time sleeping."

In December, the couple retained attorneys Jill Clark and Jill Waite.
Within weeks, they helped the Frasers regain custody of their children.
But the court case continued, with the family still supervised by child
protection. The couple were not allowed to spank their children.

At trial, Hennepin County District Judge Pamela Alexander labeled the 36
paddlings "physical abuse."

After the finding, the Frasers maintained custody of their children.
Child protection's continued oversight of the family was minimal, the
family's attorneys say.

Fraser said his oldest son's behavior continued to deteriorate. He kept
leaving the house. Instead of taking $20 or $40, he'd take $100. The
couple refinanced their home, withdrew up to $40,000 in equity and sent
their son to a Christian boarding school in Utah.

The boy, now 14, remains at the school.

"They take away the luxuries," Fraser said. "They learn to appreciate
reading instead of video games and the boob tube. It's not a
free-for-all environment."

He said his son is participating in the school's football program.

Spanking isn't illegal and doesn't automatically trigger an
investigation, said Linder, the Hennepin County child-protection program
manager.

Of the 14,834 reports of child abuse and neglect reported to Hennepin
County in 2005, almost 8,700 were screened out and no file was opened.
Of the remaining case, 1,600 ended with staff concluding there was
evidence of substantial maltreatment.

Linder estimated about 600 children in the county are placed in foster
care each year. Judges must approve those placements. Most return home
or to another relative or friend's home within six months.

Linder said social workers try to work with families in cases of
inappropriate discipline but said some parents view the social workers
as intruders.

Linder said there's no clear-cut definition of what constitutes
malicious or excessive punishment. State law says parents should not hit
children on the neck or head. Social workers often look to see whether
discipline causes bruising or marks.

He said parents often revert to corporal punishment because it's how
they were raised or they feel their religious beliefs call for such
measures.

Linder said, "Do social services providers in general frown on spanking?
Yes. Does child protection say you can't spank your kids? No.

"The norm in the human-services field is the belief that there are
better ways to discipline kids than by corporal punishment."

On Aug 12, 3:09 pm, "0:-]" wrote:
On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:51:38 GMT, Jane Fondle

wrote:
Paddling father vindicated by court
8/11/2007 7:40:59 AM

You saw a part of this that you thought would support your biases,
didn't you, Dennis?

But you didn't read it all, did you?

Try it. You won't like it.





By Shannon Prather

St. Paul Pioneer Press

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmana...news_story.asp...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Shawn Fraser said he loved his son too much to
spare the rod.

"I didn't want to injure him. I didn't want to hurt him," Fraser said.
"I just wanted to give him a little hot seat."

It took a court hearing and a victory on appeal to vindicate his
parental rights.

The Bloomington father said he and his wife, Natalie, first tried
grounding their defiant 12-year-old son. They say he stole money from
the family, disappeared for hours without permission, and then lied
about where he had been.

"I really didn't want to spank him," Fraser, a devout Christian, said.
"A father disciplines a child he loves."

The Frasers feared the worst for their son -- alcohol, drugs,
shoplifting, peer pressure, sexual activity.

So the father, who says he does not belong to a church, relied on
biblical guidance. He fashioned a wooden paddle about the size of his
hand. On June 29, 2005, when his son disappeared from the house and lied
about it upon his return, he used that paddle 36 times.

Within hours, police came knocking. Their son, who had slipped out of
the house after the paddling, was swept up in Hennepin County's
child-protection system.

What followed was a two-year court battle with child protection; six
agonizing months away from their children, who were placed in emergency
foster care; a Hennepin County judge who made a finding of physical
abuse; and, finally, last week, vindication.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's finding of
physical abuse against the couple. Parents enjoy a "wide degree of
latitude regarding the discipline of their children," a three-judge
panel concluded for the court, though it also questioned whether Shawn
Fraser's actions constituted an "appropriate parental response."

Fraser said he fought the case instead of cutting a deal because he
loves his children and was acting in their best interests.

"I knew there were other people who suffered worse than I had," Fraser
explained. "This wasn't just about me. I wasn't going to buckle."

The Frasers' attorneys say an overreaching arm of the government
intruded into families, with political correctness run amok.

"Parents have a fundamental right to raise their children," said
attorney Jill Clark. "The issue isn't if the government would do it
differently. Government is becoming a third parent leaning over
everyone's shoulder."

Hennepin County Child Protection would not discuss the specifics of the
Fraser case but said simple spanking doesn't trigger an investigation.

"The state is not saying you can't spank your child. They are saying you
can't go overboard," said Harvey Linder, a Hennepin County
child-protection program manager. "The state is saying if you are going
to use corporal punishment on your child, it can't be excessive and
malicious."

Fraser, 36, grew up in Prior Lake. Natalie, 43, was raised in the Virgin
Islands. The couple married 16 years ago. Fraser has worked as a custom
cabinetmaker but also works general labor jobs. Natalie Fraser works in
a kitchen of a hotel.

Fraser said he and his wife had made their two sons their top priority.
The couple home-schooled the boys until third or fourth grade.

When the boys enrolled in school, their older son -- a boy with a tender
heart, a creative streak and a love for animals -- struggled with his peers.

"He had trouble fitting in," Fraser said.

As the boys grew, Fraser worried the older one was picking up some bad
behavior -- leaving the house without permission, being defiant and
listening to music with explicit lyrics.

"He was taking lyrics and showing them to girls in his class," Fraser
said. "He thought that was an appropriate thing to do."

The parents worried their son's moral compass was veering in the wrong
direction.

"He was seeing all these things that are supposed to be the norm and
they're not," Fraser said. "It was this entitlement feeling -- he could
have his way. I wanted to show him the right way."

Fraser had paddled the boys when they were younger but had more or less
stopped the practice. Now he resorted to the paddle again.

"He's a good boy, but I knew he would suffer far worse if he continued
his ways," Fraser said of his older son.

He warned both his sons by posting on the refrigerator Bible verses
relating to discipline. The father said he vowed never to physically
discipline his children when angry and reserved it for the most serious
offenses -- "for things that if you did them as an adult, it would be
against the law."

The older boy continued to sneak out for hours on end, sending the
family into a frenzy searching for the preteen. The family missed
appointments and work while looking for the boy.

The night of the paddling, the older son had sneaked out, returned home
and denied ever leaving. Fraser administered 12 smacks with the paddle
-- one for each year of the boy's life. When he threw what the father
called a "temper tantrum," he got paddled 12 more times.

"I felt terrible, but I knew I had to be firm," Fraser said. "He was a
big boy" -- 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds, according to
court filings.

The son then picked up a kitchen knife and threatened to kill himself.
Fraser took the knife from the boy's hand, spanked him 12 more times and
sent him to bed.

Fraser said his son never exhibited depression or any other suicidal
symptoms.

"He was being defiant," Fraser said. "He was escalating the situation."

As the boy got into bed, Fraser said he told him: "You know not to run
off. You are smarter than this."

The boy sneaked out that night. Police found him walking along a road
and came to the couple's home. The officer said there appeared to be no
marks on the boy but repeatedly asked Fraser how many times he had
spanked his son.

Within a week, both children were whisked into emergency foster care.

The older son was immediately removed. Child-protection officials took
the younger son, then 11, from an overnight Bible camp days later. The
younger boy, now 13, feared he would never be returned to his parents,
he said in an interview.

Fraser said, "It looked like we were going to lose our parental rights
... I was told I was using barbaric methods."

Their house, once filled with the energy of two young boys, was silent.
There was no more family talk at the dinner table, no more hugs
throughout the day, Fraser said, speaking through tears

"We didn't eat much," he said. "We had a hard time sleeping."

In December, the couple retained attorneys Jill Clark and Jill Waite.
Within weeks, they helped the Frasers regain custody of their children.
But the court case continued, with the family still supervised by child
protection. The couple were not allowed to spank their children.

At trial, Hennepin County District Judge Pamela Alexander labeled the 36
paddlings "physical abuse."

After the finding, the Frasers maintained custody of their children.
Child protection's continued oversight of the family was minimal, the
family's attorneys say.

Fraser said his oldest son's behavior continued to deteriorate. He kept
leaving the house. Instead of taking $20 or $40, he'd take $100. The
couple refinanced their home, withdrew up to $40,000 in equity and sent
their son to a Christian boarding school in Utah.

The boy, now 14, remains at the school.

"They take away the luxuries," Fraser said. "They learn to appreciate
reading instead of video games and the boob tube. It's not a
free-for-all environment."

He said his son is participating in the school's football program.

Spanking isn't illegal and doesn't automatically trigger an
investigation, said Linder, the Hennepin County child-protection program
manager.

Of the 14,834 reports of child abuse and neglect reported to Hennepin
County in 2005, almost 8,700 were screened out and no file was opened.
Of the remaining case, 1,600 ended with staff concluding there was
evidence of substantial maltreatment.

Linder estimated about 600 children in the county are placed in foster
care each year. Judges must approve those placements. Most return home
or to another relative or friend's home within six months.

Linder said social workers try to work with families in cases of
inappropriate discipline but said some parents view the social workers
as intruders.

Linder said there's no clear-cut definition of what constitutes
malicious or excessive punishment. State law says parents should not hit
children on the neck or head. Social workers often look to see whether
discipline causes bruising or marks.

He said parents often revert to corporal punishment because it's how
they were raised or they feel their religious beliefs call for such
measures.

Linder said, "Do social services providers in general frown on spanking?
Yes. Does child protection say you can't spank your kids? No.

"The norm in the human-services field is the belief that there are
better ways to discipline kids than by corporal punishment."

Isn't Minnesota a state you said banned spanking Kane?

LOL