Posted on 09/20/2002 11:02:55 AM PDT by 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.
Maybe she is killing a wasp, or several yellow jackets that homed in on spilled juice or something. I didn't see actual contact with the child on the video, but i was looking at in on a 2" window on the computer. But if other's don't see contact and the child shows no injury (big if) then that may be a possible explanation.
Ditto.
And if the kid IS hurt-- put her away, but I'm not thinking that this'll play out that way. Call it a hunch.
I'm so sorry for the child you were then and I sincerely hope you're enjoying the best sort of life now. One song that broke my heart several years ago when I first heard it was this one by Susan Vega:
My name is Luka, I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you, Yes I think you've seen me before
If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was ( x3 )
Maybe it's because I'm clumsy, I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it's because I'm crazy, I try not to act too proud
They only hit until you cry, And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore ( x3 )
Yes, I think I'm okay, Walked into the door again
If you ask that's what I'll say, And it's not your business anyway
I guess I'd like to be alone, With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don't ask me how I am ( x3 )
My name is Luka, I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you, Yes I think you've seen me before
If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was ( x3 )
And they only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore ( x3 )
I hear parents say the worst things to their kids in public places...and when I see parents behaving harshly to their kids, I often tell them what a beautiful child they have and ask questions like "how old is he/she?" Sometimes my attention distracts the child from whatever they were doing and gives the parent a moment to remember how precious their kids are. Sometimes just knowing that someone is noticing their child and their own behavior reminds the parents to think about what they are doing.
And she's damn lucky I wasn't in that parking lot because she would've gotten the beat down of her life.
My feelings and emotions exactly! Hopefully the prison, she will probably not have to go to, has seen this and all inmates are awaiting her arrival..:)
TxAggie...I'm with you so far....I need to see more
that tape was deceiving to me SO FAR
You must be a case worker for the local child and welfare office you moronic blind baboon!
Great comment for a thread about violence.
Watch the kids legs at the end. Not very typical of a just beaten kid.
You must beat children on regular basis to question that that was abuse and know what a typical kid looks like after being beaten up. Even if everyone else was a stupid as you and thought this was some kind of dramatic play then maybe someone could explain why she hit that girl over 20 times. Not to mention the fact that that video shown cuts out the part where she puts the bag in the truck and continues the blows to her child's face and then shakes her more violently then I have ever seen someone attacked before. It is a disgusting site which I am glad they have decided to cut at the end of the video.
I once questioned global warming in a forum. One of the members, who knew nothing else of me, posted: "That's crazy! You know, I have this sneaking strong suspicion that you're some kind of right-wing Christian fundie militia nut!"
Well I wouldn't know what the reaction to a BEATEN KID is because although mine have been spanked, they have never been beaten like this. Nor have I ever witnessed anything like this. If I did I would surely be the one to go and investigate what the hell is going on.
Thanks for letting us know what their reaction would not be like!
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