As Expected...after all, this is Orange County

[kyburg]

In his closing argument, Ciulla said the stepmother's decision to put dog excrement in the boy's backpack did not amount to criminal abuse. In order to convict the parents of child abuse, the jury had to agree that their conduct was unjustifiable and caused physical or emotional injury.

"It's not a great parenting technique. If you're grading, A, B, C, D or F, maybe it's an F," Ciulla said. "But it's not a crime."

Yeah, tell that to the guys in court-ordered anger management.

They may retry on the deadlocked misdemeanor charges. Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Pierce is the one mentioned in the case. His office's phone number is (949) 476-4650.

I'll be calling.

EDIT: A better number to call is (714) 634-1385.

Comments

[hotcoffeecakes.livejournal.com]

i read about this case in your earlier post. i just can't believe what parents can get away with. however it can't compare to the peter boy kepa case on the big island. he was about four years old, victim of child abuse, placed in his grandparents care. was doing well at grandmas house, courts place him back with parents against grandparents wishes. kid is never seen again. father says he took the boy to oahu when he went looking for work and left him in the care of a woman at aala park. aala park is where all the druggies, hookers, homeless, you name it they've got it, hang out. he can't find the woman, goes back to the big island and forgets to mention it to authorities. no criminal charges were filed. this was 7 years ago. every once in a while the news will bring up the case, i guess just to point out how screwed our system is.