MOTHER KICKED HER KID’S @SS OVER THE TRASH
After the Erie County Family Court found she had used excessive corporal punishment and thus neglected her child, the mom appealed.
On its review the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, reiterated that “the infliction of excessive corporal punishment constitutes neglect,” and that a single incident can be “sufficient,” even if the injuries do not require medical attention.
Here, the mother erupted when her son refused to “take out the trash,” and ended up choking the kid (which purportedly caused “breathing difficulties,” and “left red marks, bruises and broken blood vessels on his neck”). It didn’t help her position that the mom admitted to the caseworker that she "’kicked [the child's] ass,’ that she was not going to let the child ‘run over her,’ and that she was not going to let him think that she was ‘a little bitch.’” And, apparently, the evidence reinforced that the kid’s “physical, mental or emotional condition was impaired by the mother.” (The kid reportedly feared her because of that violent encounter.)
While the mother presented conflicting testimony at the hearing, the AD4 deferred to the Family Court’s credibility assessments, (particularly given that they were supported by the record), and the underlying neglect determination was affirmed.
They sure trashed her there.
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DECISION