San Francisco Dad Who Took Belt To Son Acquitted Of Child Abuse
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco jury has acquitted a father who faced misdemeanor child abuse and battery charges for striking his 11-year-old son with a belt.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi said the jury deliberated for less than three hours before concluding that 32-year-old Allan Rivera was within his parental rights when he physically disciplined the boy because the spankings did not seriously endanger his son's health.
Rivera was arrested after the child's mother, who was in a custody dispute with Rivera, reported finding bruises on her son.
The boy told his mother that his father had taken a belt to him on March 11 when he refused to get ready for church and again at church because he wasn't paying attention.
He testified during Rivera's four-day trial that his father only struck him when he misbehaved.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.)
