Women Sought in Videotaped Beating

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[Texaggie79]

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) - A woman who was angry after leaving a department store was caught on a surveillance tape looking around as she helped her young daughter into a vehicle and then brutally beating the child for about half a minute, authorities said.

Police were searching for the woman and 4-year-old child Friday. The woman's sister, who had been with her in the store, was arrested, said community prosecutor Maggie Jones.

"As far as we know, she tried to exchange some merchandise, was denied that, became angry in the store at the service clerk and left. But I don't know how that could provoke an attack like this on a child," Mishawaka Police Chief Anthony Hazen said Friday on NBC's "Today" show.

The woman could be seen on the tape punching the child and shaking her, and authorities believe the little girl might have serious injuries. A doctor who saw the tape said she could have suffered head, neck and brain injuries, said Mike Samp, a police investigator.

Authorities identified the 25-year-old woman as Madelyne Gorman or Madelyne Toogood and the child as her daughter Martha Toogood.

Hazen said the woman is believed to be from the Dallas area and has a history of misdemeanor charges. He did not elaborate.

"We've spoke with several members of the family; they are not being cooperative right now. They said they disagree with the actions but they don't know where she's at," he said.

Hazen said the sister faces charges of failing to report child abuse, and the child's mother could face felony battery charges in the Sept. 13 beating.

"You can see the woman grab one of the girl's pony tails and forcefully shake her. That right there, not even counting all the blows that we saw the woman make, that right there constitutes battery," Jones told CNN.

The videotape shows the woman and girl walking to a sport utility vehicle along with a boy and the woman's sister.

The two women had tried to return merchandise at a Kohl's department store in Mishawaka, just east of South Bend near the Michigan border, but were refused, police said.

The tape shows the woman placing the girl in the vehicle's back seat and then striking her about the head. The woman also appears to shake, slap and punch the child before getting in the front seat and driving off.

The vehicle shown in the video had Texas license plates, and police eventually found it at a Mishawaka apartment complex. Police said it was not registered to either of the women shown on the tape.

[Liberal Classic]

TexAggie79 is making Texans look bad with this defense of the woman.

With all due respect, I don't think that TA79 is defending a child abuser. He's saying don't jump to conclusions, which is usually pretty good advice.

[Paul Atreides]

Did Fox say that she had a history of this type of behavior? They did say that she goes by two names.

[mystery-ak]

I can't believe there is a debate going on about this little girl kicking her legs....those were punches.....not love taps!
The mother not only hit her when she was on the floor she continued, after pausing, when she got in the car seat.

I'd love to *meet* this *mother*.

[sinkspur]

You've never met con artists if you haven't met a band of these gypsies.

As an e-mailer pointed out to me, their parking lot scam involves resurfacing the lot with used motor oil; it looks fine, until it dries a day later, after the gypsies have got their money and hit the road.

[Humbug]

The whole group engages in parking lot and roofing scams and the cops here are constantly dogging them.

Hmm. Maybe that explains why this monsterous mother was so upset, in that maybe the girl was supposed to be in on some scam and yet didn't do her part right and so when they got back to the car the lady whacked away at her kid for having messed things up. Just hope and pray they find them quickly as possible so that they can get the girl some medical attention.

[Walkingfeather]

OUI, OUI.... have been been to Paris??? tell me honestly that their cheese is worth living for?? And he calls me and idiot? sheesh

[Rokke]

No. Apparently her previous arrest was for shoplifting. She does have two other kids. Both boys.

[Paul Atreides]

That's right. She got her locked down in the car seat and started punching her in the face. For whatever reason, some people don't want to face the fact that this woman was abusing her child. And, this child is not a teen, this is a LITTLE girl.

[Paul Atreides]

Okay. I do remember them saying that they thought they would have a tough time getting the woman's family to cooperate.

[Vicki]

I saw the video and the mom is punching the little girl in the face several times. I hope they find her.

[Freedom2specul8]

You got that right. It was HATE BLOWS. This is how I saw it. The little girl was hit from behind over and over as she just finished climbing in the suv.she had fell on the floor and that's when the b*tch grabbed the little girls pony tail and shook the head back and forth so fast. You can see the hair sticking up out of the witch's right hand. You know the rest..

[KneelBeforeZod]

they should find this woman in no time now, with all the info out on Fox. If she was pounding the kid, there will be plenty of evidence.

[Commie Basher]

Are you saying her actions are a threat to liberty?

In a sense. A million Eunice Stones playing spy, reporting every imagined "suspicious" activity or conversation or joke to the State, is fertilizer for the police state.

I'd wager a good majority of FReepers (and other Americans) engage in activity that's "suspisious" to some people. Merely carrying a gun, or reading a book that's "far Right" or "far Left" or the Koran, or renting a horror or porn film, or taking a late night walk, is "suspicious" to some people.

Read Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian," in which a late night walk is deemed "suspiscious" enough to cart people off.

Police states grow by restricting freedom in order to fight unpopular groups (criminals, child molesters, hate groups, terrorists, "gun nuts"). Then the good citizens are surprised when the laws' unintended consequences are turned against them.

It is simply not healthy to encourage people to report minor personal offenses, or joking. Snitches are usually attention-seekers with empty lives, eager to find trouble where there is none.

You imagine that you're a good guy, and hence have nothing to fear from the state, or its snitches. But as a conservative, you're an evil villain to many who are just waiting for an excuse to report you for some imagine offense.

Q: What's the definition of a liberal?

A: A conservative who's been arrested.

[mewzilla]

I just hope the evidence is alive and not harmed any more than she has been already. Poor child.

[WatchOutForSnakes]

I'll say the same thing to you that I said to TexasAggie79. If the mother is innocent why is she running. If the child is okay with no bruises all she has to do is produce her. Why is she not doing that?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

With all honesty, who cares what you want? I don't give flying sh-t what you think about the case. Once the little girl is found it will be apparent if she was beaten or not. We can all agree that she needs to be found.

[twyn1]

O-kay--I watched it again on TV--just to be sure--there are at least 3 or 4 slaps that absolutely connect with the kid as she hops up into the truck, hard enough that they knock her down onto the seat/floor -- then you can see some more smacks, and mom makes a fist and pummels a few times, but you cannot see if those shots connect--the kid is kinda rolling around...she then picks up a toy and places it next to the car seat, and then grabs the girl's pony-tail and shakes her -- you can see her head bouncing against the back of the seat for a second- but it's really fast. If this was just "playing" or rough-housing, it doesn't show on her face when she turns toward the camera (which I noticed is focused on the car and then zooms in--security guys must have been watching this live). Then you see the little girl get into the car seat, and mom closes the seat and sets the toy up again and grabs a bag to put into the car, after this she puches a few more time towards the kids head (but it may have only hit the seat) and then she shakes the seat really hard. If this kid wasn't hit at all, or was only spanked a few times...why the hiding ? If it was my kid and I was accused all over national TV of beating her when I was really just "shooing a bee" or "playing"...I'd march right into the nearest police station and show them..."we were only play fighting...see she's fine" .. of course I don't have a mug shot or possible outstanding warrants hangin' over my head either :)

[KneelBeforeZod]

is there a link to a video that shows the kid being hit in the face and having her ponytail grabbed? no just the fist flinging around? thats all I've seen. And thats all they have been able to chance showing on TV so far.

[Mike Darancette]

Texaggie79 Writes:

....and just at the end when the mom is leaning back out of the back seat, you can see the kids legs kicking happily like nothing happened. I'm confused.

mewzilla Responds:

Or the kid was struggling to get away from her sadistic mother.....

Does anyone else see a problem with using this video as evidence?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Have to come to Texaggie 79's defense. The post states that the legs kicking, was confusing-not that they thought the mother was innocent. There is a quick segment of the little girls' legs, that for a second,the little girl's legs move as if she were on a swing, not clenched in a knee chest position or held straight out-if you watch the video in it's totality,you can see it. Texasaggie79 was making an observation on the motion of the legs,not exonerating the mother. The video is horrific and I have absolutely no doubt,that the child received a terrible beating and certainly not her first,but there is that segment, where the legs swing, which is the dichotomy that Texasaggie79 observed.