I just saw the photos of the marks left on this kid for the first time. It was sickening!! There are three very clear red/yellow/purple impressions of something rectangular....a paddle. The family is meeting with my attorney this afternoon.
I did not go to the school this morning because I had no definite proof that everything was as it was being portrayed...but I will be out there tomorrow morning. The only additional things I would add that I have learned is that the kid who got beaten was also wearing an earring and that the Coach did take him to the office where the prinicpal of the school witnessed the ATTACK! I will be talking with an attorney about where I have the right to be on school grounds or if I have to be off school grounds. I feel, since I am a parent with children enrolled there, then I have every right to be on campus protesting their continued employment of a child abuser.
If there are any attorneys reading this who know the answer to that question please let me know.
Updates will continue as things unfold.
Loretta Nall
My husband just came home from work and told me a horrific story about a kid who is my sons age (14) getting beaten black and blue by one of the coaches where he goes to school. My son also goes to that school and my husband works with the other kids mom.
On Valentines Day this woman's son was caught chewing gum in class. A Coach grabbed him up by the seat of his pants and started beating him with a paddle. When his mom got home late that night one of her other kids told her that their brother had been spanked at school and that his butt hurt. The next morning when the kid got up he was black and blue, his spine is messed up and his eyes are swollen terribly.
They took him to the hospital and they are not sure at this point what is damaged. They also filed a police report and the police said "Well, there's nothing we can do because you have to prove criminal intent."
BULLSHIT!!!
Leaving a bruise on a child is CHILD ABUSE. That's a CRIME. You don't need criminal intent when you actually have evidence of a CRIME. If she ahd beaten her kid like that and sent him to school she would be in jail.
This family is new here. They moved down from Michigan and corporal punishment was outlawed years ago there. They did not know that Alabama still did it or that they could opt out. The school did not call and see if corporal punishment was ok with the mom and dad.
I am DISGUSTED and OUTRAGED!!! I called the school and told the lady in the office to check my kids schedules to see if they had any classes with this Coach. She wanted to know why and I told her about this incident. She said, "Well...I have never heard that. I know Coach *******. He is my sons baseball coach and we have never had any problems."
I said, "Yeah, well you work in the office so he probably would never strike your kid. The family, the police and the hospital have photos of the abuse so you can doubt it all you want but it is true. The police and the family have already been to the school. I am telling you right now that Coach ******* is not to be allowed anywhere near my children for any reason whatsoever. Do you understand me? If ever a situation arises where he will be near them call me and I will come get them."
I am now working out how to get in touch with as many parents as possible with children at this school to call and demand that Coach ******* be fired, arrested and jailed. I think maybe even a protest is in order. I will not tolerate this man even being in the same building with my kids. He is a child abuser.
A little later on today I am going to visit the young boy and talk with his family about the best way to pursue legal action. I won't fucking rest until this giant wad of child abusing shit is locked away...for the safety of the kids and for his own safety....cause I can damn well promise you this....if it had been my kid who came home with brusies and an injured spine for chewing a piece of fucking chewing gum on Valentines Day the person who inflicted the bruises would be dead. Fuck the sorry ass police, ditto the court system...I would have killed him and taken what ever came after with a steel spine and the knowledge that I helped to rid the world of one more child abuser.
by
Loretta Nall
Addendum: Here is the part of the code of conduct that deals with corporal punishment.
PROCEDURES FOR CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
???? As a method to maintain discipline or to enforce school rules, a principal or principal?s designee, may administer corporal punishment through the moderate use of physical force or physical contact.? Such punishment shall be administered under conditions which do not hold the student to ridicule or shame.
???? Whenever corporal punishment is administered, a written report shall be made and a copy forwarded to the child?s parents.? A parent or guardian may request in writing that their son/daughter be exempted from corporal punishment and that an alternative punishment be given.? However, the school principal shall retain the authority to accept or reject the exemption request.? The request for exemption must be accompanied by the offering of an alternative disciplinary method by the parent or guardian that is acceptable to the principal.? When the alternative is determined by the principal to be ineffective, the use of corporal punishment may be reinstated.
????? The procedures listed below must be followed to guarantee proper and legally required due process on behalf of the student (For Class I and II Offenses):
The student must have been informed previously that his/her behavior could bring about the use of corporal punishment.
Prior to corporal punishment, initial efforts and/or alternative methods should be taken in attempt to modify the student?s behavior.
The administration of corporal punishment must occur in the presence of another professionally certified school employee, but only after:
a. The school employee is informed about the reasons for punishment in the presence of the student.
b. The student is given the opportunity to defend his/her position.
9 comments:
"Well, there's nothing we can do because you have to prove criminal intent."
yeah. i'll try that argument the next time i've got a client accused of assault.
what a load a crap. if they are too damn lazy to do their jobs, they ought to just say so.
Not only that wheeler, but I talked to the kids mom and she told me that when she and her husband went to the school yesterday and met with the principal, the coach and the school resoource officers they were basically told to not seek the advice of of an attorney...but to just wait and see what the school board said.
Good news though. I just spent about 15 minutes on the phone with my lawyer telling him about the case and he said that there is no need for proof of criminal intent in a case like this because regrdless of whether there was criminal intent the child has been injured and the school will be hanged for it. There is no way the school can beat a case like that.
I put the family of the boy in touch with my attorney. They are on the phone now discussing the next steps.
I will keep everyone posted on new details. I want that Coach gone post haste. If he is still there on Monday then I will begin standing out in front of the school with a sign saying that they are employing a child abuser and whatever other creative lines I can think up to describe this situation. Suggestions for slogans are welcome.
Of course the school doesn't want the family to seek the advise of an attorney; after all, big brother will take care of them. Yeah, right. You done good by putting them in touch with your attorney, Loretta. That sadistic SOB should be horsewhipped, tarred and feathered, and run out of town on a rail. Shooting's too good for him.
"Beat the System
That Beats Up Kids"
Talked to my dad, a former cop. He said that the "criminal intent" line was b.s. If the police department refuses to investigate, they can be sued as well as the school in question. Hospitals are required to notify authorities each time they come across injuries suspected to be the result of child abuse. Child care institutions and schools are also required to do so. Child abuse is something that is supposed to be taken VERY seriously.
"they were basically told to not seek the advice of of an attorney...but to just wait and see what the school board said."
oh, yeah, that's a wonderful idea. trust the same people who hired the guy and who have to pay if he did break the law. they'll be perfectly disinterested and honest.
again, i say, what a load of crap.
look, the alabama code leaves it to the local school boards to set the standards for corporal punishment. so, if 1) the local board has a standard, and 2) the coach followed it, then he is in the clear. if, though, the answer to either question is no, then this is straight up battery, assault, child abuse, and even a possible constututional violation.
Where do you guys live? I'm not sure about how things are in Alabama or, what type of parenting goes on there. I will tell you that here in Ohio where they tossed the good old wooden "board of education" in the trash, the lunatics have taken over the asylum. The paddle is supposed to be a deterrent to rotten behavior. We removed it from our schools here in Ohio now guess what? We have to have cops roaming the halls instead now. Beating a kid black-n- blue is excessive and should be investigated. Since the kid is from Michigan and wasn't expecting anything more than a time out, it makes me wonder what the kid's role in all this was. He wasn't going to bring up the incident to his parents which lends me to think he did something extra stupid to get the series of events rolling. I'm NOT defending the coach, he went overboard for sure. But, somebody needs to look into what the kid did too. I fear that in the end of all this, the kid's infractions will be overshadowed by the coach's overreaction.
I have a feeling that the typical lack of parental interest (and expectation for others to raise kids for them) that plagues everything else has more to do with cops roaming the halls than throwing out corporal punishment. Telling a kid that hitting someone is wrong and proceding to hit him is sending a very mixed message.
I can't believe this, believe you me, if this were my child, coach would be wheeling himself to practice after that.
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