Today, a sheriff stood in front of me, and said the following:

A twelve-year-old can not decide that being in a place where they are duct taped, kicked, hit with a pool cue, and smacked in the head is unsafe, regardless of bruising or cuts, and earlier recognition of abuse.

All of these things constitute discipline, even the prior abuse.

Is anyone available to look my twelve-year-old in the eyes and tell him that for me, I can’t stomach it. Of course the sheriff gets to leave, and I get the mess. My job is to accept this or go to jail for standing against it, not really much of a middle ground.

For those that say go to court, ask me to play the video where the judge says, and I quote, “obviously the abuse wasn’t bad enough.” That’s right, our system has determined that there is an acceptable level of child abuse. Cost my wife and I $40,000 to discover that truth.

We can all sleep a little better tonight?