Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WOODSTOCK, GA. LENGTH: Medium
Kivi was handcuffed and hauled off to jail.
Some child-abuse experts suggest police crossed the line. The chief complains police can't win when it comes to dealing with suspected child abuse. And Kivi's neighbors warn of sparing the rod, spoiling the child.
For sure, Kivi's arrest on charges of cruelty to children has people debating the difference between old-fashioned discipline and child abuse.
An employee at a Winn-Dixie called police on May 23 after Kivi, 35, slapped her 9-year-old son, Chuck, in an aisle of the supermarket. The officer saw red marks on the boy's face and asked him if he'd been slapped before.
``I get smacked when I am bad,'' the boy said.
Prosecutors are waiting for police to finish their investigation before deciding whether to take the case to trial.
Kivi could get up to 20 years in prison if convicted. She is free on $22,050 bail, borrowed from her husband's pension plan.
A jury of her peers in this town of 4,500 people northwest of Atlanta seems unlikely to find Kivi guilty.
``It's ridiculous,'' said Kelly Medlin, who has two children and three stepchildren. ``I think any mother has the right to discipline their kids to a certain extent.''
To what extent is the tough part.
``If only you could put the answer in nice, neat columns, to say 'here's what's right and here's what's wrong,' but you can't,'' said Joy Byers, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.
Dale Kivi said he and his wife have never abused Chuck or his sister, Sarah, 12.
``We never punish our kids in anger,'' he said. ``If we're mad at the child, we walk away.''
by CNB