FL jury acquits Dad in *felony whipping* Kid agrees w Dad

Subject: FL jury acquits Dad in *felony* spanking. Kid agrees with Dad
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 8/8/2003 12:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Teen daughter agrees that Dad was just in his punishment. States that her
family was harmed far more by the intrusive legal system and DCF, than her
father's aversive.

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Jury acquits dad
in 'felony' spanking
Teen believes father should not have been charged

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Posted: August 7, 2003
5:00 p.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A South Florida jury has ruled spanking a disobedient teen-ager with a belt
does not amount to felony child abuse.

The decision wasn't a hard one for jurors, who deliberated for less than an
hour before acquitting Naples, Fla., resident William O'Brien.

"I'm happy with the outcome," O'Brien told the Fort Myers News-Press after the
verdict was handed down. His wife and the 14-year-old daughter he spanked
offered congratulatory hugs.

O'Brien, 43, faced a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine over
the May 27, 2002, incident, in which he says he "swatted" his then-13-year-old
daughter once after she cursed her mother and then defied his order to stay in
her bedroom, according to the local paper.

The swat spiraled into a six-month legal battle after the girl's classmates
convinced her to report the spanking to the school nurse, who then passed word
of the purported crime onto case workers with the state Department of Children
and Families.

"The state did more harm to this child than the spanking ever did," remarked
defense attorney Donald Day.

Although prosecutors offered to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, O'Brien
determined his was a necessary battle to send a message.

"To not fight this would have set a bad precedent for parents trying to raise
children in today's times," he said.

The prosecutors, who had insisted on a jury trial, remained resolute despite
the ruling.

"Should you be able to leave a mark on a child that lasts a week?" the News
Press quotes Assistant State Attorney Steve Maresca as saying.

O'Brien counters the mark went away and didn't cause permanent harm.

The teen-ager, who was not named to protect her privacy, says she learned her
lesson and now obeys her parents.

She learned another lesson about the legal system and says her father should
never have been charged.


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http://www.CPSWatch.com/fl/ Send a message to DCF and Family Court. Certain
prerogratives should remain within the family. Note case probably sets a
precedent for case law within FL and for DCF continual unhelpful intrusions and
illegalities extending their reach far beyond reasonable authority into the
FAMILY.