The Grand Old Police Blotter: Legalized Beatings Edition

An intrepid former member of the MWO boards points us in the direction of the sordid tale of Gary Freudenthal, from the unfortunately-named Ohio town of Blue Ash:

A judge on Thursday acquitted a middle-aged psychologist of an assault charge for pulling down a 14-year-old girl's pants and spanking her hard enough to cause bruises. [Para.] Gary Freudenthal, 49, of Blue Ash, testified Thursday that he thought he had permission from previous conversations with the girl's grandmother - her legal guardian - to discipline the child, who was a friend of his daughter.

On Aug. 31, Mr. Freudenthal, a single father, said he was upset because the girl was picked up by police the night before on drug and curfew violations when she was supposed to be spending the night at his house after attending a football game with his daughter. [Para.] So, he went to the grandmother's Mason home about 9:30 a.m.walked into the girl's bedroom after asking the grandmother where she was, took the girl out of bed, placed her over his knee and spanked her. [Para.] When the girl laughed, Mr. Freudenthal said he pulled her bikini bottoms down and administered another spanking. A police officer testified that the spanking caused bruising on the girls' upper legs and buttocks.

Freudenthal claimed he thought he had the grandmother's permission to administer the beating; the grandmother testified he did not. (Which is irrelevant, anyway, since he didn't have the victim's permission.)

The learned jurist who acquitted Freudenthal is a Republican. In fact, he's the same man who moaned "[w]e've lost our way in this country" when discussing the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal a few years earlier.

There we have Judge Parker's judicial philosophy in a nutshell: Non-consensual assault and battery and forced disrobing of a minor = good; consensual sex between adults = bad.

The political affiliation is Spanky the Psychologist is not known; however, this quote from him suggests a strong right-wing bias: "Parents should be free to do what is in their best perception to control their children." And, according to Judge Parker, it's not a only a good idea -- it's the law.