Malicious punishment charge dropped for woman accused of whipping son
Published 9:32 am Friday, October 21, 2011
One charge of malicious punishment against a child was dropped Thursday for an Austin woman accused of whipping her teenage son with an extension cord.
Brandy Renee Smith, 32, was sentenced on one other count she faced: misdemeanor disorderly conduct. She was sentenced to one year supervised probation.
According to a court complaint, a local school official notified officers when he found a note written by Smith’s son. The note said school is a way of escaping abuse at home. When police spoke with the teen, he said he had been drinking a soda in his bedroom, which is contrary to Smith’s house rules. When Smith walked in, she apparently became angry about the soda and tried to slap the boy, according to the complaint.
The teen told officers he tried to cover his face with his hands, at which point Smith noticed a tattoo he got on his wrist. She reportedly became more angry and whipped him several times with an extension cord.
When law enforcement officials interviewed Smith, she said she hit her son five or six times with a belt as punishment for the tattoo. According to court documents, Smith seemed “upbeat” about the incident and thought it was “normal” to punish a child that way.