ANCHORAGE — A woman who squirted hot sauce into the mouth of her adopted Russian son for lying about getting in trouble in school was convicted Tuesday of misdemeanor child abuse in what prosecutors said was a ploy to get on the “Dr. Phil” TV show.
Jessica Beagley, 36, made a videotape of how she punished the boy and submitted it to the show. The tape shows Beagley yelling at the crying boy, then tipping his chin up and pouring hot sauce in his mouth.
Beagley then had the screaming boy stand in a cold shower for sword-fighting with pencils in school.
Both actions were recorded on a videotape submitted to the “Dr. Phil” show. Anchorage police got calls from viewers after the show aired last October.
Neither Beagley nor her husband showed any emotion when the six-person jury announced its decision. The couple walked quickly from the courtroom and down a set of stairs without responding to questions from reporters.
Jessica Beagley could face the maximum sentence of one year in jail, a $10,000 fine and up to 10 years of probation when she is sentenced Monday, said District Judge David Wallace. She remains free without bail because the case is a misdemeanor.
Prosecutor Cynthia Franklin also left the courtroom without commenting.
Beagley and her husband, Gary, an Anchorage police officer, adopted the twins in 2008 when they were 5 years old. The boys had already spent three years in an orphanage. When located by Russian authorities, their family was living in a shack and the twins were sleeping on shelves in an armoire.
One of the twins made a fairly easy adjustment to his new home in Alaska, but the other exhibited behavioral problems that included lying and urinating on the floor.
Beagley’s attorney said his client turned to unconventional forms of punishment when spankings, time-outs and restricting television weren’t effective in changing the boy’s behavior.
Defense attorney William Ingaldson said his client was faced with a difficult situation dealing with a child with emotional problems when she reached out to the “Dr. Phil” show for help. If she hadn’t done that, she never would have been charged with child abuse, he said.
“It is our feeling Jessica was doing the best she could. ... This is a very good, loving family,” Ingaldson said.
He believes the city child abuse ordinance fails to spell out what is acceptable in terms of punishment. For example, under the law it would be possible to convict a parent who put a child in a timeout for what a jury might consider too long, he said.
Ingaldson will request that Beagley receive no jail time. Asked if the children could be taken from the family, he said the Office of Children’s Services had already investigated and found no reason to take action.
In closing arguments Monday, Franklin said Beagley recorded the punishment on Oct. 21, 2010, for a segment of the show titled “Mommy Confessions.”
Beagley’s lawyer countered that she made the video and eventually went on the show because she was desperate to find help for her son.
Both prosecutors and the defense attorney acknowledged that the eight-minute video showing Beagley punishing the boy was hard to watch.
“There is no reason in the world why someone has to hurt a child to get on a reality show,” Franklin said in her closing argument.
When the episode aired, it sparked public outrage in Russia, with some people demanding the boy and his twin brother, who were both adopted by Beagley and her husband, be returned to their native country.
Franklin told the jury it wasn’t Beagley’s first attempt to get on the “Dr. Phil” show.
After seeing a segment in April 2009 titled “Angry Moms,” she contacted the show but heard nothing for a year and a half, Franklin said.
The show eventually called to find out if Beagley was still angry, she said.
Beagley then submitted audition videos in which she yelled at the boy, but producers said they needed to see her actually punishing her son, the prosecutor said.
That’s when Beagley got the video camera ready, made sure there was enough hot sauce on the shelf in the bathroom and recruited her 10-year-old daughter to shoot the video, Franklin said. Days later, she was headed to Los Angeles to tape the show that first aired on Nov. 17, 2010.
Dr. Phil McGraw describes Beagley’s actions as brutal and abusive, according to a transcript of the show.
“I think anybody would look at that and say that that is absolutely outrageous, it is over the top, it is abusive, it is inefficient, it is — it is out of control,” McGraw said in the transcript after portions of the video were shown.
The show provided the Beagleys with an evaluation of the boy and counseling.
More recently, the boy has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and is in therapy.
In his closing arguments, Ingaldson encouraged the jury to look closely at other footage submitted to the show in which Beagley coaches the children on not getting into trouble and reminding them of what happens if they do.
“She is not trying to get these kids to misbehave. She is trying to do the opposite,” Ingaldson said.
Comments (49)
Add commentHer Turn.........
Get out the hot sauce.
This woman should not be allowed to adopt any children
Sword fighting with pencils in school - oh my - what an action of a normal boy. Time out, a good talking to, consequence for bad behavior - any of the above - not hot sauce and cold shower. Get her out of my sight - sensation seeking bully.
Three fourths of the parents
Three fourths of the parents out there should not be allowed to have children. Most for having no discipline in the kids life.
Children are little more than slaves
in far too many homes. While the majority of countries on earth have laws against adult-adult violence (even North Korea), last I checked only about 30 have laws that show no difference between violence to children versus violence to adults.
I have yet to hear a compelling argument that adding pain to punishment is the absolute best way to discipline children. And since it probably isn't, it stands to reason it should not be an option.
Thoughts?
Mike
All I know is that when my
All I know is that when my kids were little, we were criticized for being too strict. Now the same people who criticized us, marvel at how well behaved my kids are, and cant understand why their kids aren't behaved. Hmm. Go figure.
kpawsuh / discipline
I am not saying corporal punishment never produces desired results. I'm only questioning if it is always the best way to get those results.
Mike
Narcissism
The woman was clearly doing these things to get on TV, hope for a little publicity, and an easy check and all she had to do was abuse her kids.
She deserves to be in prison, and her kids need to be taken away from her. She is a danger to her kids, other kids and society.
Husband is a Police Officer?
Where is he when his wife is using unconventional discipline measures? Does he feel her actions are appropriate? Surely he was aware of this happening and should have stepped in... Right?
Jo is right
She was convicted because she caused pain to her child to get on TV. She waited for a minor offense and filmed it to get on Dr. Phil. That is reprehensible.
Jo is also right that tea parties are for little girls with imaginary friends.
Mike. I think corporeal punishment can have desired effects in the short term. If I don't want my child to kick the dog, I can kick the child every time she does so. Long term the effects on the child are often not positive. I am not saying that a child raised with some level of corporeal punishment can't become a pillar of society.
My wife and I started out spanking our first child when she threw tantrums. We started seeing an escalation of the tantrums and harder spanking was needed to stop them. We quit and turned to other means like putting her in her room and ignoring the tantrums. It worked well and we continued that with our second child. Often children are looking for attention and subconsciously they will act out even if it means they get spanked.
I think the best results come from positive reinforcement for positive actions and negative reinforcement in the form of lack of attention for negative actions. There are, of course, a lot of situations in life that don't work out that way.
I can't imagine a situation where it is OK to torture your child so you can get on TV. I lose respect for Dr. Phil for encouraging this sort of behavior.
hiker, thank you for your reply
but I still haven't heard the reply to the question I asked.
Does anyone here think corporal punishment (physical pain) is ever the best way to mete out discipline for a child?
And if it isn't, might I suggest it shouldn't be considered as an option in the first place?
Mike
Well Mike. I spank my kids,
Well Mike. I spank my kids, and it worked for us. I didnt even have to spank them very often. They learned if this, then that, and altered their behavior. I have even been thanked for having corrected them, once they saw the repercussions of having continued on the path they had started. They knew I was disciplining out of love and concern for their wellbeing. I'm sorry if this offends you, or you don't think it is an appropriate method, but it works for me, and I am the one responsible for their lives, so I really don't care if you approve. Thankfully we can still raise our kids as we see fit in this country.
kpawsuh, I'm sincerely trying to understand a position, that's
all. I get that you and others believe your kids are well behaved. I'll take your word there. But without sounding like a broken record, I really want to understand if it is your position that the best method for disciplining a child involves physical pain, at least sometimes?
Mike
I said this yesterday
On the other story, but it bears repeating:
“If she could take back that video, I’m sure she would.”
If she hadn't gotten in trouble with the authorities, I doubt she would "take it back". If you read the earlier account of what this 7 year old child got in trouble for - squirming in his seat and playing "swords" with pencils - you HAVE to realize that is completely normal behavior for a 7 year old. Hot sauce in the mouth AND a cold shower?!?! Excessive and, yes, abusive. Take a friggen parenting class!
Yep. I do.
Yep. I do. There have to be consequenses for actions. Pain isnt the only tool, but it is a good one and it shouldnt be left out. I have never had any luck with timeouts. The kid just puts in his time, plays with an imaginary friend, whatever. The method of telling them how they dissappointed you will soon turn into a "whatever" attitude. Losing a toy if they are bad just ends up with not placing much attachment to phisical items because they just get taken away. An occasional input of pain is harder to work around. I guess they can develop a better pain tolerance. It doesnt even take much. I remember when they were toddlers, they can fall and land flat on their buts and giggle, but if you give a light smack on the diapered bottom, they cry. It was less of a jolt than falling was, but its the corrective nature of it.
kpawsuh, thank you for providing the clarity I was looking for.
Mike
Mike.
I would say no. Purposely inflicting pain on your children never has positive results. We tried it early on with negative results. I have heard lots of people tell me it worked for them and I believe they think spanking helps but I don't agree.
I think Kpawsuh's kids would be fine, perhaps even better, without the spanking. I am not saying Kpawsuh isn't a good parent. Considering he said he rarely spanks his kids, it seems he uses a whole suite of parenting practices and spanking is a minor part. The combination of what he does has positive results.
I have not seen anyone show me the positives and I have seen the negatives to corporeal punishment. The negatives are most pronounced when the corporeal punishment becomes more severe but that doesn't mean there aren't small negative affects when the pain inflicted is less.
That said, I think parenting is tricky and I feel very uncomfortable pushing my ideas on others. I feel comfortable saying what worked and didn't work for us and spanking had negative effects for us. Not spanking worked well. Our my kids are great.
hiker, thanks. I don't think you are pushing your ideas
on anyone (perhaps you don't either). You are simply discussing concepts and ideas in a free country!
Mike
My Vote
In My Opinion it's never OK to physically punish your kids.
With my 1st 2 kids - one time my son smacked our daughters hand and said "no don't hit" cause she smacked him in the face when she was mad.
At that moment I realized just how stupid it is to use physical pain to punish a child.
So many kids later I have never used physical punishment to control my children's behavior and my children make honor roll in school, excel in sports, careers and I always get compliments about how well behaved they are.
It makes absolutely no sense to me. If my boss comes in & hits me on the back of the head for doing something wrong it's not going to make me do it better it's just going to [filtered word] me off. If I do get it right next time it would have been out of fear not out of a desire to change.
We need to give our kids the respect we demand they give us. From birth our children have the desire to please us and makes us proud we need foster that desire to WANT to change not force it out of fear.
We never experienced any
We never experienced any negative consequences from spanking our kids. Homeschooling them, we were around them much more than the average parent as well, so we were able to observe their behavior, consistently correct, and not have lots of outside influences, too. That helped a lot. And at times it was more frequent, but they learn. I do have many tools in my kit, but spanking was definitely a, in my opinion, critical tool.
Three fourths of the
Three fourths of the employees out there probably need spanked too.
spanking
If it's meant as punishment - pain as a consequence of poor behavior, spanking says more about the parents' insufficiencies than the kids'.
That said, I've needed to swat my kid on the ...behind...occasionally, not as punishment, but to get the kid's attention, get the kid to focus.
Then, time out.
I find it interesting that
I find it interesting that the same people who don't like spanking, also dont like the death penalty, and fight against any programs in the prisons like physical labor programs, or making then eat baloney sandwiches wearing pink jumpuits and sleeping in tents. These same people complain that the prison system isnt working, but what is prison if not an extension of the time out? Little johnny is having a hard time playing with others, so he has to go sit in the corner. Big Johnny has a hard time fitting into society, so he has to go sit in jail. Neither works.
@kpawsuh: time out doesn't
@kpawsuh: time out doesn't usually involve anal rape. And if you think the way Joe Arpaio treats his prisoners is punishment comparable to spanking and not public humiliation (and in some instances torture), well...
The reason prison doesn't work very well is because it doesn't work to undo the forces that created the criminal in the first place. It's not a very apt comparison to punishing a child for bad behavior because the circumstances in which crimes and childish misbehavior occur are completely different.
Kpawsuh.
I favor prisons and the death penalty in some cases. Baloney sandwiches shouldn't be fed to pigs. It's OK to feed them to prisoners and members of the Tea Party because they are full of baloney already. Prisoners should not be allowed to sleep in the tents because sleeping in tents is fun.
Kidding aside, I think work programs including outdoor camps can be a useful tool in rehabilitating prisoners. I don't know that they should be forced. If a prisoner chooses not to participate, he can rot in his cell for the duration of his sentence. I am OK with that either way.
I think your assessment that only liberals disagree with spanking is basically off the mark. I know many republicans that don't believe in spanking and as far as can see most of them are reasonable parents. I also know a lot democrats that spank as well. I don't see it as a partisan issue.
A switch in time will save
A switch in time will save nine especially with my willow fine. I corrected my children for minor offenses before the became big offenses.
Hiker, I didnt put any
Hiker, I didnt put any partisan references in my post.
PP. You seem anal-y
PP. You seem anal-y infatuated. Who the heck would bring that to the conversation. Creepy!
Because you compared prison
Because you compared prison to timeout. Quite obviously, prison entails more than sitting by yourself in a corner.
But rape in prison is not a
But rape in prison is not a gauranteed outcome. I don't think it happens as often as is rumored. Thats like sating your kid shouldnt buy a car because rpg attacks are deadly on humvees in Iraq. Just a little out there.
@kpawsuh
I favor the death penalty for murderers and mostly pedophiles!
I favor removing all luxuries in the prisons I believe in order to be in prison you violated someone else's right usually the right to be safe. Therefore inmates should NOT have any rights except to eat cheap meals and have a cot maybe the floor works too.
I favor inmates doing hard manual labor to earn the money it costs to feed, cloth, and take care of them.
I also believe parents who repeatedly abuse, neglect and lose their kids should be forced to be sterilized.
All that said however is about adults. I do NOT believe children should be punished via physical pain, except to save their life. If my kid is going to fall, touch something hot, or anything else that will harm them you can bet I'll grab their arm & risk hurting them to keep them safe.