XPost: alt.flame.jesus.christ, alt.prisons, rec.sport.pro-wrestling   
   XPost: alt.true-crime, alt.christnet.ethics, alt.christnet.calvinist   
   XPost: alt.atheism   
   From: watuziNOSPAM@yahoo.com   
      
   ^^^ wrote:   
   > x-no-archive: yes   
   >   
   > Couple convicted in beating of two daughters; lawyer says no harm was   
   > intended   
   >   
   > By Phil Trexler   
   > Beacon Journal staff writer   
   >   
   > When their young daughters were caught ``playing doctor,'' Legeer and   
   > Montaya Surles felt a whipping and some Bible reading was in order.   
   >   
   > But on Thursday, a Summit County jury found the Akron parent's belt   
   > whipping on their 8- and 6-year-old daughters crossed the line of   
   > discipline and became a crime.   
   >   
   > The couple will be sentenced next month on two counts each of felony   
   > child endangering. They could receive probation or a maximum of five   
   > years in prison.   
   >   
   > The Surles were acquitted of two other endangering charges as well as   
   > two domestic violence charges.   
   >   
   > ``I guess this shows you can't spank your child if you're going to   
   > leave bruises,'' Akron defense attorney Ed Weber said after the   
   > verdict.   
   >   
   > The Surles, the parents of five children all under the age of 8,   
   > testified that they found their two daughters acting out a sexual act   
   > together last Feb. 20.   
   >   
   > As punishment, the couple bound the ankles of the girls with a belt   
   > and proceeded to take turns striking the girls. Each child was struck   
   > about five times with a leather belt that they had nicknamed Brown   
   > Mama.   
   >   
   > Afterward, the parents said they spent about an hour around midnight   
   > reading Bible passages from Proverbs, trying to explain to their   
   > daughters why they were being disciplined.   
   >   
   > ``I'd never hurt my children like that,'' Montaya Surles, 26, told   
   > jurors. ``I saw something that was inappropriate and needed   
   > discipline. (But) they went to bed knowing that we loved them.''   
   >   
   > The morning after the beating, Robinson Elementary School officials   
   > noticed bruising and welts on the 8-year-old and called police.   
   >   
   > The Surles children, including a newborn, were removed from the home   
   > by the Summit County Children Services Board, and their parents were   
   > arrested. The children are currently living with their grandmother.   
   > Their parents are free on bond.   
   >   
   > ``I think the Surles just made a mistake. They're good people. They   
   > were trying to discipline their children; they didn't intend to harm   
   > them.'' said defense attorney Richard Reece Jr., who represented the   
   > mother.   
   >   
   > In court, the parents testified that they didn't think they hit the   
   > girls hard, and were only trying to teach them that such sexual   
   > conduct was inappropriate. Legeer Surles, 22, told jurors that   
   > disciplining a child shows a parent's love.   
   >   
   > ``The Bible says if you spoil the rod, you hate your children,'' he   
   > said.   
      
   It says "spare the rod and spoil the child".  What a dumbass, he doesn't   
   even know his own mythology.   
      
   > The couple said the girls' ankles were bound to ensure they didn't   
   > resist and inadvertently kick Montaya Surles in the abdomen. The   
   > mother had had a Caesarian section about four weeks prior.   
   >   
   > Assistant prosecutor Kevin Mayer contended that the parents went over   
   > the line in disciplining the children.   
   >   
   > He said to jurors that the oldest girl told police the punishment was   
   > ``the worse whipping in the universe'' and that the parents used a wet   
   > leather belt to enhance the pain.   
   >   
   > In court, the 8-year-old testified that her parents ``gave me a   
   > whipping because they want to raise me right.''   
   >   
   > Common Pleas Judge James Murphy will sentence the couple July 3.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)