Mom Allegedly Burns 'Wimp' Into 6-year-old Daughter's Neck With Cigarette

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Mom Allegedly Burns 'Wimp' Into Daughter's Neck With Cigarette

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,456453,00.html

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — A West Virginia mother faces charges after being accused of burning the word "wimp" into her 6-year-old daughter's neck.

Tammy Smith is charged with five counts of child abuse and of malicious assault, all felonies.

Moundsville Police Chief Jim Kudlak said Saturday that the child told police that her mother used a cigarette to burn her. Smith's daughter told authorities that her mother burned her because she was angered that the girl tripped and fell.

An employee at the child's school noticed the burns and police were called Wednesday. The girl is in foster care.

The 43-year-old Smith is being held in jail on $50,000 bond. Kudlak says he doesn't think she has an attorney yet.

[Stargleamer]

1. Please don't give the daughter back to that mother n/t

[HopeFor2006]

2. Well done by the employee at the school

She/he is a hero.

[bread_and_roses]

3. The nuclear family strikes again

the only reason this made the news is that the abuser took the time and patience to brand on a word instead of the usual random burns.

[JonQ]

5. They didn't mention a father

I would think in a case like this they would, just to say whether he would be brought up on charges as well, or not. So I don't really see this as some sort of broad condemnation against the nuclear family structure. I'm not sure what you're getting at?

There are terrible parents in any type of family arrangement.

[bread_and_roses]

9. father present, father absent - the isolated family is dangerous to children

and to an almost equal degree, to women. I use the phrase "nuclear" to mean the parent(s)/child(ren) grouping in familial isolation in which children are seen as the property of the parents. Most single parent families or same-sex parent familis follow the same pattern as a male and female parent-figures family: the parent(s) live in a seperate dwelling and are totally responsible for the care and maintenance of the child(ren). It is that construct that by all the evidence is inherently dangerous to the smaller or weaker or dependent (dependent elders are also abused).

How many thousands of chidren are abused in the nuclear family everyday? How many women beaten? How many elders abused? Yet we continue to bemoan the examples that make it to the news as aberrations, instead of what they plainly are - one of the norms of this construct.

As long as we maintain the fiction that the isolated family is a healthy environment, we accept the appalling frequency of child murder and abuse as the price for that fiction.

[JonQ]

10. I'd hardly call this the norm

these sorts of things *are* aberrations.

Jonestown was a communal organization, where there were no recognized nuclear families and children were raised by the community. But I'd hesitate to say that mass-murder is the norm for any such communal society.

More children are abused under traditional family models because they are most common, not because they are inherently prone to such things.

[bread_and_roses]

11. something that happens multiple times every day - every hour - does not fit my definition

of "aberrant." However, I'm not here to convince anyone. Any healthier construct will have to arise organically, I think - though I could be wrong about that.

[Quantess]

4. Some people should not have children, ever.

I'm assuming this woman was 37 when she gave birth to her daughter. That's old enough to know better. She can't use immaturity as an excuse. I hope the little girl gets a permanent new home.

[4lbs]

7. Something tells me that the daughter was "unwanted" and an inconvenience for the mother.

After all, no mention of the father being around, so maybe the woman got pregnant after a brief one-night stand or weekender. Thus the biological father would be long gone and have already abdicated any parental rights.

[Quantess]

15. You're probably right about that. But still,

middle aged women are supposed to be more mature about, #1, using birth control, and if they have an unwanted pregnancy to either get an abortion or give baby up for adoption. Apparently not, in her case.

It's too bad she didn't make it to menopause without children.

[backscatter712]

6. Can we throw her in a cell with Michael Vick? n/t

[BlooInBloo]

13. It is literally inhumane in the extreme to lower the value of people to that of dogs...

That's just sick.

[buckettgirl]

8. At least it was reported

sometimes people take too much of an "its none of my business" approach.

[surrealAmerican]

19. Teachers are required by law to report suspected abuse.

[LostinVA]

21. That doesn't mean everyone does

[BlooInBloo]

12. The hicks in the sticks of PA/WV are geniunely freakish in how much mean they can dial up.

Sigh. Poor kid. :(

[marknovota]

14. Hope she will be abused in a prison. Unbelievable.

Where people like this come from?

[ACTION BASTARD]

16. Palin voter for sure. That's how they teach the young'uns.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. kill her

[LostinVA]

22. I'm glad you're advocating the DP for assaultive child abuse

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. Thanks.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Cigarette burns come with full (still-)presidential approval

Bush defended branding fraternity pledges with coat hangers as just like a cigarette burn: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2383887

[Dorian Gray]

20. Nasty nasty nasty

woman.