Mom's 911 call leads to trooper whipping her 8 year old son with belt

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2009/05/judge_trooper_showed_no_remors.html

Judge: trooper showed no remorse for hitting boy with belt
by Patti Brandt | The Bay City Times
Wednesday May 20, 2009,


CARO - A Michigan State Police trooper will serve 30 days in jail and one year of probation for the Nov. 12 incident in which he hit an 8-year-old boy four times with a belt.

Patrick L. Sharkey, 56, of the Caro post, was also ordered to pay court costs and fees and to complete a court-approved anger management course.

Before Judge Kim David Glasby of Tuscola County District Court sentenced Sharkey, who has been a police officer for 32 years, he played a tape of a call Sharkey made after the incident to the 911 dispatcher who was on duty. The prosecution, Glasby said, had requested the call be made a part of the official court record.

In the call, Sharkey tells the dispatcher that he hit the child four times with a belt, saying the child's mother was too afraid of child abuse.

"Bottom line, the paddle straightened his little butt out to where he ain't gonna cause no problems tonight," Sharkey says on the tape.

"This was a beating," said Judge Kim David Glasby of Tuscola County District Court. "And you have no more right to beat a child than I do to come off this bench and cane you."

Sharkey also tells the dispatcher that the child needs to be paddled every time he does something wrong.

The boy's mother, Melissa S. Ihrke, called 911 on Nov. 12 when the boy became assaultive, was hearing voices and was out of control, according to Assistant Attorney General Dennis J. Pheney, who prosecuted the case.

Ihrke, of Tuscola County's Ellington Township, declined to comment after the sentencing, but did say she was satisfied with the outcome.

Sharkey had said that the boy's mother had asked him to discipline the child. But Pheney said the tape makes it clear that the "beating" was not at the mother's request. Pheney said that even if the mother had asked Sharkey to discipline her child, it was Sharkey's responsibility to tell her that that was beyond the scope of his duties.

"This isn't a rookie," Pheney told the court. "He knew better than to do this."

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http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1238598903272900.xml&coll=4

Starkey arrived at the home to find the child had locked himself inside a bedroom, and the trooper assisted the boy's mother in getting him out of the room, according to Gierhart.

Starkey and the mother ''then have a conversation about what forms of corporal discipline she can use,'' Gierhart said.

The mother ''decided she wanted to spank the child, so she went and got a belt - it wasn't Trooper Sharkey's belt,'' Gierhart said.

''She attempts to spank the child with the belt, but when she's done, the child mocks her and she's upset, and she turns around and hands the belt to Trooper Sharkey and says 'You do it.'''

[ColbertWatcher]

1. "when the boy became assaultive, was hearing voices" ORLY!?

I hope the kids is getting subsidized healthcare to help him with those voices he was hearing.

Damn.

[TWiley]

4. A million american businesses are tax free on the basis of "hearing voices"

I do hope he gets medical attention also. If the poor child is unfortunate enough to belong to an evangelical fundamentalist Christian Church, then it is possible that he would experience a near-lifetime of abuse at the hands of the faithful before getting medical attention.

[TexasObserver]

2. Outrageous conduct by a police officer.

Hearing voices? Might want to get that checked out as an alternative to beating the kid.

[Garbo 2004]

3. 8 yr old kid hears voices, is beaten. Trooper who beats the kid is the one who gets counseling.

Aren't they like leaving something out in the story? Is the kid getting treatment for hearing voices, being assaultive, etc? Or just wallopings?

[TWiley]

5. Amazing lack of common sense. Child goes to prison, cop gets bennies.

[Garbo 2004]

6. Cop sentenced to jail & probation; 8 yr old kid not arrested. nt

[cali]

9. say what? you have that exactly backwards.

[TWiley]

11. Oops, I was thinking about a different thread when I got back to the keyboard

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Yeah, seems like the kid was having a psychotic event. Needs counseling, not whipping

[Echo In Light]

8. The "That'll learn the unruly BRAT!' crowd should be weighing in shortly to defend...

[JuniperLea]

10. This is a sick and twisted story!

The child should have been taken to a mental hospital where he could be properly evaluated, tout de suite! The mother AND the cop should be locked up. Idiots.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. OMG

No words.

[backtoblue]

13. using violence teaches violence.

My mom called me one night because my 16 year old sister was hitting her. I came over and when my sister tried to come at me, I simply took her to the ground and SAT ON HER.

Mom called my sister's probation officer to come and get her, but when the officer arrived, HE ARRESTED ME FOR BATTERY!!! Yes, I SAT on my sister to prevent her from hurting my mom and herself, but the officer said that I could not subdue someone like that. (she was not hurt in any way)

The charges were dropped by the prosecuting attorney, but I'm still pissed about it.

That cop had absolutely no right to hit a child, especially using a weapon to do so. Poor kid, I hope he gets some help. We teach our kids that cops are supposed to be "friendly" and helpful, but ones like this guy smash that theory to hell...