Posted on 06/30/2016 10:43:43 AM PDT by Ketill Frostbeard
An Arkansas woman was taken to jail for using a switch on her great-granddaughter, who she says was misbehaving.
Police say the girl has visible welts on her arm.
Norma Toussaint, 70, says she's not a bad person, but says she did pull a switch off her front hedges, stripped the leaves and used it to punish her 12-year-old great-granddaughter.
"I went back in the house and whooped her on her arm," Toussaint said.
Upset, the girl threatened to dial 911.
"I asked, I said, 'You want to call the police on me?' And she said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Call them then,'" Toussaint said.
At least four Hot Springs police officers showed up to the home Monday morning, KARK-TV reports. According to an incident report, Toussaint and the girl both told police it stemmed from the 12-year-old not throwing away food and talking back.
"I said, 'You gonna give me some lip by what you're not going to do?' They do this to you; they think they can do anything with it and get away with it," Toussaint said.
KARK reports hundreds of people disagree with the decision to arrest the grandmother, commenting on the Facebook post about the arrest. The most-liked comments include one who said, "She has learned that she can be a brat and the grandmother or any adult can't punish her!"
Another wrote, "I had a switch used on me so many times when I was young that it kept the trees pruned in the yard."
Yet another wrote, "Reading this article just angers me. She disciplined her granddaughter. That's it. This world is backwards."
Toussant said an officer told her she should have done it on the girl's bottom, but she says she's not going to do it again.
"I don't think I want to go to jail again, but she got to learn some kind of authority, you know what I'm saying?" Toussaint said.
The great-grandmother is now facing a felony domestic battery charge. A no-contact order was also filed against her. She has more than two dozen great grandchildren, a number of whom she has helped raise. The girl is staying with another relative in the meantime.
Someone ain’t getting any Christmas presents from Grandma ever again.
I got the hot end of a switch many a time as a kid. I survived.
I had to go pick one out and bring it to my mom. If it was too small she would go get one that wasn’t.
Psyops, southern style.
One day while burning leaves the fire made its way to the bush and burned it. I didn’t exactly get in its way.
So Ma just went to the Bolo paddle (without the ball).
Those cops need to get whupped with a switch.
Poorly written article, from what I can glean, it may have been the welts on the arm that triggered the arrest and charges. Arkansas is pretty lenient on corporal punishment. She should have aimed at the buttocks, though the girl may have been squirming away.
I never had a switch used on me, however my dad had a nice selection of belts for when I got out of line.
You got that right. Grandma ain’t Never gonna forget this bratty little skunk who called the cops on her.
Actually, 12 years old is a little old for corporal punishment of any kind. If they don’t know the rules by then, whipping won’t help in the long run. Take her phone or tablet for a few days. The Grandma is doing the child rearing that her own children won’t or cannot do. She does not deserve to be called a felon for that. Where are the social services helping her out?
My grannies were running a criminal enterprise if that’s an arrestable offence.
Hey, at least we know what really gets the attention of the police now, don't we?
Meanwhile, the Merkun Crimnel Jesters System just can't seem to figure out what to charge Hillary Clinton or Lois Lerner with...
My Mother and Father would have been in jail more than out.
They grabbed anything that was handy. Mostly a stick of wood fromt he woodbox. Brooms, whatever, they used them.
We NEVER deserved it EVER..heh heh.
Not the fault of the cops. The problem is with the legal system they serve. I hope the prosector doesn’t press charges.
“Not the fault of the cops.”
Not buying it. The cops at the scene have discretion to decide whether the facts merited an arrest or not. There was no DA hovering over their shoulder forcing them to make the arrest, that’s on them.
It’s legal in Va to spank but if the cops or CPS get called in and there are marks, you’re going to be arrested and charged.
Hitting someone with an object hard enough to leave welts is just plain wrong, especially a 12 year-old. That said, this old gal was a great grandmother at 58? To cram 3 more generations in there she couldn’t have been much over 12 when she first gave birth. Probably a real nice family.
Ay, que barbaro! My mom and my aunts were all criminals armed with switches from the dogwood bushes on the ranch...
But 12 seems a bit old for switching-if we acted out at that age, it was no TV, no leaving the property, no company and extra ranch chores for a week...
I recall as a young boy when my older teen brother got in trouble - once he was caught with a group stealing a friend’s car for a joy-ride. The sounds coming from upstairs of our Dad delivering justice made the rest of us remember what was in store if we stepped out of line...
I got the hot end of a switch many a time as a kid. I survived.
I had to go pick one out and bring it to my mom. If it was too small she would go get one that wasn’t.
The same with me and my brothers. Dad would hand us his pocket knife and and tell us he didn’t want any willows smaller than his little finger.
grannies 2nd. amendment
just got tossed as well.
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.