Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Will Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Ohio and other States, detectives with a SVU (Special Victims Unit) investigated and arrested a mother and Dayton (Ohio) Public School bus driver on criminal charges of child endangerment. The criminal charges involve allegations that the mother (Kristal Hill – age 33) burned her 4 year old daughter with a spoon that had been heated from a stove. Ms. Hill will be entitled to a criminal defense attorney from the public defender’s office or a private law firm. The 4 year old girl had told different stories of the incident and this may be part of a possible defense of the case by the mother and her attorney.
Parents have some rights in the manner in which they discipline and raise a child; however, there are limits to said parental rights. When the discipline or corporal punishment is excessive, criminal investigations and prosecutions result. What is excessive? The answer to this question may depend on who you ask. Most States have laws in place that define excessive punishment and / or child abuse. If Ms. Hill burned her child to discipline her and marks were left from the burns, this would appear to be a criminal case of abuse rather than a mere parental choice in discipline. You can read more about this story at Ohio School Bus Driver / Mother Suspected of Burning her 4 Year Old Daughter.