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 ...
I never said that what he did was okay. I have explictly stated, multiple times, that he was wrong. He deserved to be punished, and he was, and his punishment was appropriate.
If the girl's father beat the crap out of him, he would also be wrong and would deserve a comparable punishment.
She did hit his kid. She does not need massive reconstructive surgery. So I guess everyone involved is glad that you were not.
Gee. Maybe the girl was learning to ski, too.
And many 14 year olds are definitely little girls.
“Hitting her multiple times is just evil.”
Probably just lost his temper. It’s an emotional response. Not rational. Not evil.
A fourteen-year-old is not a little girl.
Yes. But I've been on ice skates a lot more.
ML/NJ
The number of “men” on this thread who think that punching a girl in the face is a reasonable act, and shouldn’t be punished is APPALLING.
I'll tell you what's sick: treating teenagers like little children.
One of the earlier posted articles does specifically say that she was a member of a ski school class, which would indicate that she was just learning as well.
I only went skiing once, and spent most of my time on the learner's run. I don't know how many times I fell, was hit, run into, or run over before I decided I might as well try the intermediate slope, figuring that I couldn't get hurt any worse than I had already.
You’re a disgusting bully.
Please! People who run down a hill, whatever its size, as if they were competing in the Olympic Downhill cannot complain about accidents they cause while avoiding fallen skiers.
ML/NJ
I don't think it was reasonable, but I also don't think it was some horrible crime demanding prison time.
He's been fined, banned for life from all major Colorado resorts, and now has criminal record that labels him a child abuser. That seems appropriate to me.
What do you think would be a more reasonable punishment?
ML/NJ
Nonsense. The only evidence of that the girl was sking carelessly is the subjective statement that the father gave to justify his crime. For all we know, the girl accidently knocked into the little BIT while trying to adjust her ski boots or perhaps father and child were standing in a blind spot in the middle of the slope discussing Obama's greatness.
I am amazed the you and other naturally assume this girl was recklessly skiing. Could it be that this girl was herself learning to ski? Why do you assume she was an olympian skier when you know nothing about her?
Scumbag should have found himself on the ground with a pair of holes in his chest after the first hit on the girl.
There’s no possible excuse for such a mindless attack on an under age girl by a supposed adult. If he were truly concerned about his own child’s well being, he should have been seeing to that child’s care instead of going rabid and attacking the teen.
5 years in prison would have been a decent starting point, not this joke of a sentence.
ML/NJ
Check this thread out. The FR Woman Haters Contingent is moving on to little girls.
He wouldn’t have a job if they hadn’t banned DDT.
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