David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
N.B. man jailed for spanking son
CBC News
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A 46-year-old Fredericton man has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for spanking his six-year-old son.
The man pleaded guilty last year to one count of assault causing bodily harm after he spanked his son so hard there were bruises on the boy's buttocks.
The spankings took place between May 16 and May 20 in 2008, when the boy and two of his siblings were staying with their father for the weekend. He had joint custody of the children with their mother. According to the man, the children misbehaved during supper, and he struck them, three times each, on their bare buttocks. The mother discovered the bruising on her six-year-old son and reported it to social services.
A provincial court judge had ruled the man was remorseful and originally imposed a nine-month probation term, but the Crown appealed the sentence and said the father was in a position of authority and did not acknowledge that any harm had been done to the child.
During his original sentencing hearing in May, the man told the court that he felt spanking was an appropriate form of punishment. "I've used corporal punishment, and I'm an affirmed believer in it," he said.
Justice Paulette Garnett of the Court of Queen's Bench said Tuesday that while she does not believe all cases involving the corporal punishment of children should result in incarceration, it was appropriate in this case.
The man's name was not released in order to protect his son's identity.
CBC News
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A 46-year-old Fredericton man has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for spanking his six-year-old son.
The man pleaded guilty last year to one count of assault causing bodily harm after he spanked his son so hard there were bruises on the boy's buttocks.
The spankings took place between May 16 and May 20 in 2008, when the boy and two of his siblings were staying with their father for the weekend. He had joint custody of the children with their mother. According to the man, the children misbehaved during supper, and he struck them, three times each, on their bare buttocks. The mother discovered the bruising on her six-year-old son and reported it to social services.
A provincial court judge had ruled the man was remorseful and originally imposed a nine-month probation term, but the Crown appealed the sentence and said the father was in a position of authority and did not acknowledge that any harm had been done to the child.
During his original sentencing hearing in May, the man told the court that he felt spanking was an appropriate form of punishment. "I've used corporal punishment, and I'm an affirmed believer in it," he said.
Justice Paulette Garnett of the Court of Queen's Bench said Tuesday that while she does not believe all cases involving the corporal punishment of children should result in incarceration, it was appropriate in this case.
The man's name was not released in order to protect his son's identity.
