Posted on 03/09/2011 10:48:36 AM PST by rawhide
A Decatur man accused of punching a 14-year-old girl in the face for running into his son on the slopes in Colorado has pleaded guilty to third-degree assault.
The Vail Daily reported Tuesday that the plea from 41-year-old Scott Filler, a renowned malaria expert, was for a misdemeanor stemming from the December incident at Beaver Creek Ski Resort.
Police reports say Filler thought the teen was skiing carelessly when she bumped into his 4-year-old son. Eagle County sheriff's deputies say that's when he jumped on the girl and hit her with his fist. The girl said she was swerving to avoid another skier.
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert says Filler was sentenced to anger management classes and restitution, the amount of which would be determined by the girl.
Prosecutors also sought community service, but Hurlbert says the judge fined Filler $500 instead.
Three witnesses told deputies they observed Filler punch girl between two and four times.
The ski instructor who pulled the Decatur man off the girl told deputies Filler punched her "at least four times, using a closed fist," sheriff's Lt. Mike McWilliam told the AJC. Two other witnesses said they observed Filler yell at the girl before landing two or three punches, the sheriff's office spokesman said.
Filler, charged with misdemeanor child abuse, told deputies he thought the girl was skiing carelessly and had seriously injured his son. The boy was not hurt, however, and Filler apologized. The girl was treated for minor injuries at a local medical center.
Her father requested charges be filed against Filler, who was banned for life from Vail's six ski resorts.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Who asked for prison time? I think he was sentenced appropriately in the absence of a history for this type of conduct.
Skiing at a mega resort during the Christmas Break can be a contact sport, particularly since many of the people who ski at this time of the year may be inexperienced. If a person is concerned that their precsious little child might get a boo boo, then pick a different sport or at least stick to the lower bunny slope.
Get real.
THANK YOU!!!!!
I notice that those condemning the girl the loudest are also the loudest in defending the father.
One was the result of an accident and the other was deliberate and pre-meditated and look who's getting castigated and who's getting excused.
And yes, some 14 year olds are mature for their age. Most are not.
I like that. Can I steal it?
Did she have shaped skis?
Assuming that you are correct, the mature, adult way to handle the situation is not to slug the girl two to four times in the face, but to turn her over to the ski patrol or some other person of authority. I've been to these mega ski resorts on many, many occassions and the ski patrol and mountain police are all over the place, especially during holiday week.
Agreed.
Well, one of us sure missed it.
When you used the word "or" there, you left the door open to either a comment or an action setting him off. You probably didn't mean to, but you raised an issue here and I'm responding to it.
Is there or is there not any justification whatsoever for this girl being punched in the face? If not, then mentioning what may have set the guy off, predicates his action on something she did. Thus it would be at least somewhat understandable.
My take on it is that it is never appropriate for an adult male to hit a 14 year old girl in the face. And while you probably didn't mean to imply it was okay, trying to explain what set him off is an unreasonable thing to do, when nothing short of her pointing a gun at the kid would actually be something that should set him off.
It's like us trying to explain what a wife did that justified her husband beating her up. Unless she was a continuing threat to him or their children, it's not going to fly.
You and I probably have a fairly close opinion of what took place, but I'm not going to spend my time giving this guy cover of any kind.
I’m stunned.
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No. What made you think that? Did one of us say it?
Thanks Metmom. And as I stated, she may have been learning to ski herself, not in full control yet either.
Learning to ski is not easy. I well recall those days.
Skiing is like driving. You can’t see behind you so it’s the responsibility of those behind you to watch out for you.
Expect the unexpected. Now a 4 year old needs to learn this but the father should have been on extra alert for him since the boy doesn’t have the maturity to know this himself.
I can’t help but wonder if the father was right there with the child, or standing back letting him go on his own.
Baloney. My father would NEVER have done something like that.
Assault is assault. It's a crime.
You're an a** to think like that. Sh*t happens, and if you read the article you would see it was an accident where the girl was swerving to avoid another reckless skier. Some woman ran a red light and t-boned my car, nearly killing me. I went to her aid and helped her. Don't be so hasty to beat the crap out of someone, it's a quick path to hell.
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Exactly right! Thank you.
Sadly, I’m not.
I’ve seen it before on FR.
I concur. And I thought, even for someone to lose it like he did: - 4 times to the face? Wow. Anger management might be a good investment.
I think you’re on the right track there.
I may rank right up there with the ‘worst father of the year’ for thinking along these lines, but I’m not the guy who would trot my four year old kid out there to an accident serious injury zone just so I could point to him and my friends could go ooh and ah.
The kids joints are developing. The skis place a lot of pressure on those joints. I wouldn’t be risking life-long problems even if he did wish he could do it.
Sometimes you have to be the adult.
I know a lot of people do it, I just wouldn’t be one of them.
Even if she had full control, the laws of physics could play into it.
If she swerved and didn’t know that the little boy was heading her way, there’s just no way physically that she could have avoided him.
And, having had to swerve enough myself to avoid other skiers, if she went down herself, there’s just no way physically that she could have avoided him.
If I had to guess, I’d think that when she swerved, she also lost control and wiped out. It is not uncommon.
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