Man Convicted For Spanking Child With Belt

Mebane, NC -- A man was found guilty of misdemeanor child abuse last week by a jury in Alamance County.
Avante Brown, 41 of Mebane, was found guilty on July 21 for an incident that happened in November 2009.
Investigators say Brown used a belt to spank a six-year-old. Medical personnel say the child was hit 10 to 13 times. Bruises and welts were also found on the child.
The District Attorney's Office was pursuing the case as a felony, but a jury called it a misdemeanor. District Attorney Pat Nadolski said his office respects the verdict.
Brown received a suspended sentence of 150 days in prison and was ordered to six months of house arrest. He was also ordered not to harass, threaten or contact the victim's family. Brown can also not reside in any house with anyone 16 years old or younger.
In May, WFMY's 2 Wants To Know took a look at whether spanking is a form of abuse in North Carolina. A Graham man, Michael Ward, was found not guilty by a jury for spanking his eight-year-old son.
State law defines misdemeanor child abuse as a parent inflicting physical injury. Attorneys say it's up to a jury to decide if it's abuse.

You know when I was growing up I was spanked with a belt, a flyswatter, a bare hand. What has happened to the world today? When I was little you didn't talk back or disrespect your parents or elders. You knew if you did, you would get a spanking. I even know people who were spanked with a switch. ( For you people who don't know what a switch is. A switch is a thin stick you pull off a tree so your parents can whip your butt with it.) Nowadays, children back talk and disrespect not only their parents but anyone in authority. That's why so many of them end up in jail. It seems like there is no guidance or discipline anymore. People listen up, spanking is not the answer to everything but sometimes it doesn't hurt to give a spanking because a child is being disrespectful. Spanking hurt me when it was happening but I also had a form of respect for people older than me. It also made me a better person.