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Stranger Slapped Crying Child, Police Say

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  • TxEMTP69

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    [url]http://news.aol.com/article/man-slaps-child-in-walmart/653392[/URL]

    STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (Sept. 2) - Police say a 61-year-old man annoyed with a crying 2-year-old girl at a suburban Atlanta Walmart slapped the child several times after warning the toddler's mother to keep her quiet.
    A police report says after the stranger hit the girl at least four times, he said: "See, I told you I would shut her up."
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    Roger Stephens of Stone Mountain is charged with felony cruelty to children. It was unclear if he had an attorney and a telephone call to his home Wednesday was unanswered.
    Authorities say the girl and her mother were shopping Monday when the toddler began crying. The police report says Stephens approached the mother and said, "If you don't shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you."
    Authorities say Stephens then grabbed the 2-year-old and slapped her. The child began screaming and Stephens was arrested. Police say an examination showed the girl's face was slightly red.
    A call to the girl's mother, identified in the police report as Sonya Mathews of Grayson, was answered by a woman who identified herself as Sabrina Mathis, the victim's aunt.
    Mathis said Wednesday that the girl is doing fine.
    "As of today, she has really forgotten about it," Mathis said. "She's been playing."
    Mathis said the girl's mother was shaken up over the incident.
    "She's as well as to be expected," Mathis said. "Right now she's just trying to calm down."
    Texas SOT
     

    Acetone

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    Written by the Associated Idiots. They probably left out the child was throwing things at the old man and that he very politely asked the mother several times to control her child. I'm on the old man's side. Discipline your children or else...
     

    Fisherman777

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    I can't stand going to Walmart for that very reason. I said kind of loudly when I thought the parents couldn't hear, "Two words! Baby Sitter!" and the mom was smirking next time I saw her. Kid still raising cain.

    So..... BABY SITTER PEOPLE! GET A BABY SITTTER!
     

    juwaba98

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    If you are a parent then you already know that it is not always that simple to control your young children. While they may be angels 90% of the time, virtually all children will be prone to some form of outburst at the most inopportune time. If my child happens to do this to me in a public setting and I cannot calm him/her down quickly we will leave. HOWEVER if YOU feel that I am not adequately controlling MY child in a manner that suits you and feel motivated to do so for me, you had better have made your peace with God because a set of handcuffs will be the best thing you could hope for. This is not just some internet machoism as some members here have met me in person. If YOU lay your hands on my child(ren) you will have to deal with me in a most unpleasant manner. No I am not actually threatening anyone here, but this is the way I feel about my family.

    I agree that most people who do not properly discipline their children in public or handle these situations better need a clue. That does not however allow me to interject myself into the situation. If it is that bad, just walk away. Shop another section of the store. The kind of people who shop at Wal-Mart, KMart etc. are the same kind of people complaining about them. Remember the fact that YOU too are shopping in the same place as these people so that broad paintbrush you are using covers you as well.

    My opinion? This man had no business touching that child regardless of his interaction with the parent. Remember we are talking about CHILDREN.


    And the babysitter thing, seriously? You expect someone to pay a sitter or not go get formula/diapers/TP? Seriously?
     

    Acetone

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    Juwaba98,

    Please see the levity intended in my post, on this Friday afternoon before a long weekend. I never have, nor would, condone the beating of someone else's child.
     

    juwaba98

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    Juwaba98,

    Please see the levity intended in my post, on this Friday afternoon before a long weekend. I never have, nor would, condone the beating of someone else's child.

    I was not intending that to sound like it was directed towards you. If it sounded so I apologize. As a father it's hard to see any levity in the situation. I do dig the Family Guy though. The babysitter thing was all that I addressed directly.
     

    Texas1911

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    Yeah, it's off limits to lay hands on other people's kids. That's not cool at all, even if the kid is yet another undisciplined hellion it's still not his right to do so.
     

    TxEMTP69

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    If you are a parent then you already know that it is not always that simple to control your young children. While they may be angels 90% of the time, virtually all children will be prone to some form of outburst at the most inopportune time. If my child happens to do this to me in a public setting and I cannot calm him/her down quickly we will leave. HOWEVER if YOU feel that I am not adequately controlling MY child in a manner that suits you and feel motivated to do so for me, you had better have made your peace with God because a set of handcuffs will be the best thing you could hope for. This is not just some internet machoism as some members here have met me in person. If YOU lay your hands on my child(ren) you will have to deal with me in a most unpleasant manner. No I am not actually threatening anyone here, but this is the way I feel about my family.

    I agree that most people who do not properly discipline their children in public or handle these situations better need a clue. That does not however allow me to interject myself into the situation. If it is that bad, just walk away. Shop another section of the store. The kind of people who shop at Wal-Mart, KMart etc. are the same kind of people complaining about them. Remember the fact that YOU too are shopping in the same place as these people so that broad paintbrush you are using covers you as well.

    My opinion? This man had no business touching that child regardless of his interaction with the parent. Remember we are talking about CHILDREN.


    And the babysitter thing, seriously? You expect someone to pay a sitter or not go get formula/diapers/TP? Seriously?
    +1 I was thinking of a way to respond to earlier posts without coming off wrong, but I think you put it perfectly
     

    hkusp1

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    yea touching other people's kids is a no no, probably a good way to get shot "honestly officer i thought he/she was trying to kidnap my child so i shot him"
     

    Fisherman777

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    I didn't mean a trip for tp and formula. That's an in and out visit and the kid doesn't have time to get upset. But if you're going to be in there for hours doing the weekly shopping, please make arrangements to keep the child happy or let someone watch them. On one trip to Walmart, I was walking down an aisle peacefully looking at the items, just taking my time. It was nice and quiet and all of a sudden blasting from the next aisle over I heard something that sounded like the blood curdling scream of a banchee. I thought, "What the heck are you doing to that kid?!?" Then I heard a giggle and then the scream again. The kid was doing it on purpose and the mother was just ignoring it. My kids never acted like that in public and I didn't when I was little either. I don't advocate touching other peoples kids but I would ask the parents to get control before they give someone a heart attack. I think it's a reasonable request.

    btw - I did think the old man was out of line but I understand his feelings at the time.
     

    frijolero817

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    Sometimes you also don't know the whole situation. In this day it's not an impossibility that the kids dad could be on deployment, and as a result the overstressed mom is just trying to get through the day. I know my wife had lots of days like that while I was gone. I'm not saying the kid couldn't have been a brat and that was probably the case, but still there's no reason for that. Sometimes people just get hot headed and do something they shouldn't have, why not be the bigger person and just say what's on your mind and go shop in another aisle for a while.
     

    Fisherman777

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    Sometimes you also don't know the whole situation. In this day it's not an impossibility that the kids dad could be on deployment, and as a result the overstressed mom is just trying to get through the day. I know my wife had lots of days like that while I was gone. I'm not saying the kid couldn't have been a brat and that was probably the case, but still there's no reason for that. Sometimes people just get hot headed and do something they shouldn't have, why not be the bigger person and just say what's on your mind and go shop in another aisle for a while.

    That's just what I did and the whole undisciplined menagery just followed me through the grocery section. I went and shopped in hardware for a while and came back when they were gone. They were a noisy bunch.
     

    frijolero817

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    I'm all for disciplining your kids, don't get me wrong we definately discipine ours. No time outs or anything like that, it's spankings and go outside to scoop dog poop by yourself until the yard is clean(they're still pretty young and we have two big dogs so it works well-Ridgeback and Lab). I'm just saying that sometimes kids have bad days and the OP even stated that the kid was 2 years old. They call it terrible 2's for a reason. I think you did the right thing by just walking away it shows more maturity and wisdom when you do what you did. You just don't hit a kid you don't know and especially when you could be wrong about why you think they are crying.
     
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