Posted on 05/12/2003 8:56:37 PM PDT by chance33_98
Father who disciplined child with stun gun goes on trial
By Elma Barrera ABC13 Eyewitness News (5/12/03 - SWEENY) - Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a Brazoria County man accused of using a stun gun to punish his two stepchildren. Twenty-seven-year-old Theodore Moody faces three counts of injury to a child.
Did the defendant break the law when he used the stun gun on his two stepchildren or was he just being a good parent? That is what the jury is going to decide. Moody is charged with injury to a child and endangering a child. Brazoria County prosecutors allege he used a stun gun to punish his two stepchildren, an eight-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister.
His two biological children and his two stepchildren are in CPS custody. Moody's wife is charged with failure to report child abuse.
"What you need to understand is, the allegations sound very severe. The allegations sound very horrible," admitted defense attorney Joseph Varela. "It sounds like some chamber of horrors is being perpetrated here. I think when you examine the testimony that's going to come out on an individual basis, that it's not going to be nearly as bad as what some people have perhaps presented it to be."
Prosecutors wouldn't talk to Eyewitness News on camera on Monday, but back in September 2002 they did. So did officials with CPS, and Moody himself. He showed us the stun gun he used on his stepson.
"It hurts. It hurts a lot," Moody demonstrated the gun on himself. "But it got a point across. He responded to it. He wouldn't respond to the belt. The belt left welts. I don't like welts. That's evidence of abuse."
Prosecutors will tell jurors that when the eight-year-old missed the school bus, Moody made him walk five miles and used the stun gun when he slowed down.
In our September interview Moody also showed Eyewitness News the paddle he used on the boy. That didn't work, he told us, so he decided on the stun gun for both children.
Now a jury will decide if that form of discipline was criminal, or if he was just doing his job as a parent.
The trial is expected to last about a week. Prosecutors plan to call about 15 witnesses. Moody's two stepchildren will testify against their stepfather. Testimony begins on Tuesday
Definitely not what I'd use on a child except to intervene in a life or death situation with something less than lethal.
This, apparently, is not nearly as strong a device. What levels of voltage are we talking here?
The headline conjures up horrible images of abuse, but the guy says it worked, where repeated spankings did not. Is it more merciful to find an effective alternate method of imposing discipline that may not be harmful than to persist with an ineffective disciplinary method ad infinitum?
Where is mom on this?
Personally, I get better results with my kids through love than I think I would with fear, although the occasional swat on the bum gets through when nothing else will.
Stepchildren can be particularly obstinate when they were opposed to a divorce and won't accept any 'imitations', or simply do not like the stepparent. The best way to start dealing with that issue is to de-emphasize the 'step' part... But all this over missing the bus? Drive the kid to school. Handle it.
IMHO we are not getting the full picture here.
I agree, though my intent was to raise questions about the veracity of the reporting. To say that this guy is lacking in parental skills would be an outrageous understatement.
My first reaction to this article would not be printable here; I have kids at home and cannot imagine feeling the neeed to resort to this type of discipline. Either there is some outrageous laziness at work here, this guy has bought into the 'children are little adults' BS a bit too far, or the guy is a sadistic puke.
Besides, usually when a child repeatedly misses the bus, there is some other factor at play there. Is something going on at school that the kid would rather face this than go to school?
Lousy excuse for a parent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.