It is shaping up to be a hot summer already in the battle of individual freedom vs. government control. Latest is a mother who was arrested for punishing her own children for breaking into a home.
Schaquana Spears, 30, was booked on child cruelty charges Monday morning after her 13-year-old son reportedly told East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office detectives that Spears had struck him with an RCA cord multiple times. He and Spears’ other two sons, 10 and 12, had visible cuts and marks on their bodies, according to investigators. Spears was booked into the parish prison on two counts of cruelty to juveniles with bond set at $2,500.
“Parents have the right and obligation to discipline and teach their children. We often time see children who have no parental authority or discipline which eventually results in delinquency and criminal acts. We need more parents who discipline their children. Surely you would expect a parent to discipline a child who is burglarizing other people’s homes as this could be a deadly encounter for the child. The degree of physical discipline will be reviewed. The law does not allow excessive pain or cruelty but does allow physical parental discipline. I only have the short synopsis which does indicate that the discipline resulted in marks on the child’s body and possibly an open wound. I will review all of the reports; meet with the DCFS office and review any history of this mother and her children to get a better picture of the entire family dynamics before making a decision. In the meantime my office is working with the juvenile court to ensure the speedy release of the mother under conditions satisfactory to the court,” District Attorney Hillar Moore said in a statement about the incident.
“They’re just being kids, being followers,” Spears told local news station WBRZ after posting bond Tuesday night. “I thought I was showing them this is not what you do. You do not steal people’s stuff, what they work hard for. I know how that feels, I’ve had my house broken into.”
She has probably also seen how easily a young Black child can be beaten or killed by police without retribution, let alone put into the prison system.
The owner of the burglarized house thought the single mother of six should be commended, not arrested. Though she wasn’t home at the time of the break-in, she could have had killed the boys out of panic when they busted her back window.
“If it was me, I’m gonna beat you before I let the cops kill you. I’m gonna do what I have to do. I’m not gonna let (my children) steal and kill and do all of that. I’m not gonna let them fall victim to the streets.” said 45-year-old neighbor/victim Lisa Nicholson.
