I am a mother of girls ages six and ten. I am separated, and I have half custody. I work hard, and the girls sometimes create havoc. I spanked the six-year-old with a belt, just like my mother did me. Should I be concerned? Thank you for asking a tough inquiry, and one that is not easily answered since you do not say if the spanking left any welts or contusions.
There has been relatively little legal guidance on physical punishment in North Carolina, but luckily the North Carolina Court of Appeals addressed physical punishment in December In this case, the Court of Appeals held that a spanking with a belt that left a child discolored the next day was abuse. The precedent is In the Matter of H. The case occurred in Polk County, North Carolina.
Is spanking sometimes referred to as physical or corporal punishment lawful in North Carolina? In footnote one in H. A person can even be criminally charged with the crime of child abuse for physical punishment. In , a Jacksonville, North Carolina man was criminally charged with child abuse for physically punishing a 9-year-old girl multiples times on her hands, back, and buttocks with a belt and a paddle made of wood.
The criminal warrants indicated that the punishment caused severe cuts or abrasions. Then, of course, there is the high-profile case of the prosecution of the Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson on child abuse charges. One of his defenses was that he received physical punishment as a child growing up in East Texas. The Peterson case ended with a plea deal that allowed him to avoid jail time. Peterson was initially put on a six-game suspension without pay as this was his first domestic violence offense.
Later in November after the plea deal, he was suspended for the remainder of the season. The suspension withstood appeal, so the soonest he can be considered for reinstatement is April 15, This varies from place to place and may in some circumstances be left to a jury.
