A Florida police officer from the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office was called to witness a 42-year-old man spanking his 12-year-old daughter as a form of discipline on Monday. The responding police officer detailed the specifics of the police-supervised spankings in an incident report stating that the father wanted the police officer to stand and watch as he spanked his 12-year-old daughter with a paddle. The deputy wrote in the incident report that he looked on while the father spanked his pre-teen daughter four times on the buttocks with a paddle, according to a Today report.
Undersheriff Noel Stephen told WPBF that the father’s request is not the first of its kind that the Okeechobee County Sheriff ‘s Office has handled. More parents are concerned about legal implications of spankings, even in states where corporal punishment laws are lax, the reports indicate. Just after Christmas, Inquisitr reported that a father in New York, where spankings and other forms of physical discipline are permitted, was facing felony assault charges .
Given parents’ fears of legal repercussions and the popularity of spankings as discipline, some parents have turned to calling the police to supervise the spankings, according to reports.
“It happens,” Stephen told WPBF, explaining that he has personally supervised 12 spankings .”It’s definitely not something we advertise to do, and even though law enforcement has been willing to help out in this situation, watching a parent discipline their child is something that’s done only when a deputy has no other calls to handle.”
The incident report stated that the Floridian father wanted an officer to watch as he spanked his 12-year-old daughter on the buttocks with a paddle for his own protection after his daughter got into a very heated argument with her sister. After the spanking, the deputy stated that the father committed no crime, and so he left the residence having witnessed the spanking as requested.
While some parents feel police-supervised spankings are a good idea, others are upset that parents feel that their parental rights must be waning if parents feel the need to issue spankings with police supervision.
Father calls police to oversee child’s spanking (video) http://t.co/kEhjfjauVg I hate what this world has turned into!
— Steve Hennegan (@FranchiseSMH) January 3, 2015
“Can’t spank a 12 year old unless cops supervise? Interesting. My Grandmother would be laughing in her grave. She gave us a whipping with a willow switch. No police supervision,” a poster identified as Mickey2942 wrote on the WPBF article.
It’s sad we live in a day and age where we have to ask the police to supervise our kids when spanking them. WAT http://t.co/l1CwGSOmgV
— SnowBQ (@TheBroBQ) January 3, 2015
A smaller group of adults feel that spanking a 12-year-old girl while police supervise falls into a sketchy ethical area.
“Here’s an interesting experiment. Go to Google and do this search: Florida deputy spanking paddle,” a commenter identified only as blwpyrtv wrote on the WPBF article. “At the top of the results is this story. Two down the list is another one about Robin Pagoria, the Polk County sheriff’s deputy who filmed herself paddling two girls at the request of her online boyfriend (and is now in jail). Looks like Pagoria chose the wrong county to work in.”
Of course, many are opposed to spankings in general.
Did anyone here about this story. Father in Florida calls #Police to oversee child’s spanking. Hope when the police arrived they #tased him.
— Jersey Bill (@JerseyDevil001) January 3, 2015
#betterwithfreinds spanking teaches limits that most don’t understand or have. That’s why our youth are killing each other and police.
— Robert McCluskey (@edgemaster55) January 3, 2015
With a #WoodenPaddle ? #INSANE !! Father Calls Police To Supervise Him Spanking His Daughter http://t.co/QN3iCMAein
— One (@0NE_NATI0N) January 2, 2015
Some have called police supervised-spankings a waste of tax dollars, but what do you think?
[Photo adapted via PicFreak and Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office’s photos]