Slaps to 12-Year-Old Daughter Who Sent Raunchy Photos to 19-Year-Old: Woman Acquitted in Rome

[Artaxerxes II]

https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronac ... fxlk.shtml

The woman was convicted of mistreatment for other episodes. The girl, now an adult, had been caught sending erotic photos to a 19-year-old. Today she recognizes that the mother "had her reasons": "Maybe seeing a daughter make a mistake in those conditions... I would put myself in her shoes too"

She slapped her 12-year-old daughter because she was sending dirty photos of herself to a 19-year-old boy. The Court ruled out the mother's liability, arguing that the lady, B.C., 42, acted in the exercise of a right or in the fulfillment of a duty. The judges of the first collegiate section, presided over by Alfonso Sabella, held — as written in the reasons — that "once she had surprised her daughter, the lady undoubtedly decided to exercise that power/duty of education and correction of children that must be recognized as belonging to each parent". The judges also noted that the daughter, heard in the courtroom in the context of the trial where B. C. was accused (and convicted) of mistreatment (with the exception of this episode), "justified her mother with regard to the slap, demonstrating a high degree of maturity".

"In my mother's shoes, she did well"

"Maybe seeing a daughter make a mistake in those conditions (...) I don't know, I would put myself in her shoes too", said the girl, now an adult, adding that "the mother had been a pain". The woman also spoke in court about this episode, saying that, after that discovery, it was difficult for her to manage the relationship with her daughter. It was the beginning of 2016, when the woman noticed her daughter chatting on Instagram. An argument broke out in an already tense environment. The mother had two other young children, her husband had left home and her maternal grandmother lived with them.

The defendant, although trying hard to make ends meet (as demonstrated by the many jobs she had), indulged in curses and violent gestures. On that occasion in particular, she snatched her daughter's cell phone and what she discovered left her speechless. The woman didn't say a word, but she slapped the girl a few times. She – who during the examination repeatedly said she loved her mother – suffered a black eye (or a wound to her lip, as claimed by the Prosecutor) and did not go to school for a week.

Conviction for mistreatment

In the reasons for the sentence, the judges note that it was the daughter herself who emphasized that "the mother had her reasons". For the panel, this single episode cannot be included in mistreatment. At most, for the Court, it should have been verified "whether there was proportionality between the "jus corrigendi", legitimately exercised by the mother, and any possible culpable excess". The judges write: "The mother exceeded in the use of force in reprimanding her daughter (...). However, the episode is criminally irrelevant, also because there is no complaint for injuries or beatings". In any case, "the slaps - for the judges - were the element that triggered the aggressive, violent and domineering conduct that characterized the cohabitation between the mother, the daughter and the maternal grandmother".

The woman, between 2016 and 2019, slapped not only the girl, but also her mother several times and was sentenced to one year and seven months for mistreatment.