Charges
dismissed against minister who spanks son ReligionToday
November 20, 1999
Massachusetts
dismissed charges against a minister who spanks his
12-year-old
son. The state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled Nov. 17
in
Boston that child welfare officials did not provide enough
evidence
to support child abuse charges against Donald Cobble
(see
link #1 below), The Associated Press said. The Woburn,
Mass.,
minister testified that he spanked his son occasionally --
once
or twice a month -- with the end of a leather belt to
instill
discipline.
...The
spankings risked "substantial risk of physical injury" to
the
boy, said the Department of Social Services, which filed the
complaint.
The DSS offered to drop charges if Cobble agreed to
stop
using corporal punishment, but Cobble refused. His attorney
said
he was prepared to argue for Cobble's constitutional right
to
religious freedom.
...The
spankings did not meet the DSS' own definitions of abuse
or
injury, the court found. Similar methods of corporal
punishment
under more severe circumstances could result in "the
actual
infliction of impermissible injuries," it added.
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RELATED
LINKS:
1:
http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/News
Reprinted with permission
from Religion Today, http://www.ReligionToday.com."
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