Videotaped Mom: I'm Not A Monster

A mother who was captured on videotape slapping and punching her 4-year-old daughter said Saturday she was wrong to hit her child, but said "I am not a monster."

Madelyne Gorman Toogood, 26, surrendered to police to face a child battery charge eight days after the nationally televised videotape depicted her shaking and hitting the child after in a department store parking lot.

Four-year-old Martha Toogood showed no signs of physical injury, but the state placed her temporarily in custody of another family, prosecutor Chris Toth said Saturday. The girl was being examined at a hospital.

"She's safe. We just have to, at this point, make sure there are not any deeper physical injuries," Toth said. "She's a sweet, wonderful girl. Physically she looks fine."

After being released from jail on bond, Toogood, of Mishawaka, admitted to reporters that she was wrong to beat the child, but criticized authorities' decision to temporarily place her daughter with another family.

"My child shouldn't pay for a mistake I made," she said, insisting her husband or other extended family could adequately care for her daughter.

"I am not a monster," she said, fighting back tears. "I have three children. Nothing's ever happened before."

An arrest warrant issued Friday charged Toogood with battery to a child, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Earlier a judge set her bond at $5,000, although prosecutors had requested a $50,000 bond because of her transient history, Toth said.

Toogood, who investigators said cooperated during a one-hour interview, was transferred to the county jail for booking, Toth said.

Police had been searching for Toogood and her daughter since the Sept. 13 incident, caught on video by a surveillance camera outside a Kohl's department store in northern Indiana.

Authorities said the mother had left the store angry because she was refused a cash refund for goods. The woman is then seen putting her daughter in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle, then pummeling, slapping and shaking her for nearly a half-minute.

Toogood's attorney, Steven Rosen, said his client was angry because her child was misbehaving in the department store. He said he would not attempt to defend the attack because of the videotape.

"It's clear here the young lady lost her temper," said. "I'm not here to say she's not guilty ... She committed a shameful act. She shall be punished."

Rosen also criticized the girl's temporary placement with another family, saying the Toogood family was tight-knit and traumatized by the decision.

"To me, this is very detrimental, very psychologically detrimental, bordering on abusive," Rosen said.

Authorities feared Martha Toogood might have been seriously injured. Rosen said Toogood's family members and friends told him the child was fine and had been examined by a doctor.

"As far as we know, she tried to exchange some merchandise, was denied that, became angry in the store at the service clerk and left. But I don't know how that could provoke an attack like this on a child," Police Chief Anthony Hazen said.

"I've been a police officer 23 years and that's probably the most violent thing I've seen happen to anyone, much less a child," he told the CBS News Early Show.

CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports that while helpful, the videotape also sent a disturbing message. Child abuse experts tell him that what was caught happening in public is a reminder of what usually happens behind closed doors.

Toogood's sister, Margaret Daley, who authorities say was with her at the store, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse. Prosecutors later added a charge of assisting a criminal. Daley, 31, was released Friday after posting $2,150 bond.

Police received more than 1,000 calls about the video, which was first aired Wednesday night by local stations seeking the identity of the woman and girl.