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Dad who used stun gun on toddler sentenced
Categories: Babies, In The News
Rian Wittman, an Oregon father who used a stun gun on his 18 month old son, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison after a plea bargain.
According to the prosecution, the child's mother noted strange marks on the child in January 2007. Thinking it was a rash, she wanted to take him to a doctor but Wittman talked her out of it.
"He described to her that he used the stun gun to play peekaboo with the child," the prosecutor said. "The mother did not report the incident, and that was a mistake on her part."
After similar marks appeared on the child a few weeks later, the mother took the child to her sister's home and then to the police. Doctors found numerous wounds conforming to the stun gun's electrode pattern.
"This is a case of a father torturing his 18-month-old son," prosecutor Reed Dinsmore said. "I spoke to a Department of Human Services caseworker who was present, and she said the look in the child's eyes will not easily be forgotten."
It is unknown whether the little boy will suffer long-term nerve or neurological damage.
While I am aghast at the behavior of this "father" (and can think of some creative places to apply a stun gun to see what a tough guy he is) I'm even more puzzled at the thought process behind the mother's acceptance of an electrified version of peek-a-boo. ???
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adriene 1-29-2008 @ 2:27PM
You need a license to own a dog, you need a license to fish..........But any jackass can be a parent.
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Caelligh 1-29-2008 @ 4:07PM
While I appreciate your point...since when does one need a license to own a dog?
ame s 1-29-2008 @ 2:38PM
You got that right, A!
My gosh, if he would do such a thing to an 18 month old, I shudder to think of what he would have done to that child as he got older, how much more the child's mother would be willing to overlook.
The mother is only a fraction less detestable than her husband. I don't believe she actually bought the hide-and-seek crap. It is a shame that some women are willing to sacrifice their children's safety and very lives for a man.
I dearly loved my late-husband (my girls' father) and dearly love my new husband, but I would be in a cell also on some serious assault charges because I honestly don't think I would be able to help myself.
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mamacheryl 1-29-2008 @ 4:01PM
I'm betting the father was abusive to the mother as well. People who have it in their heart to torture children like that... usually don't reserve their evilness for the little ones. And like many women with abusive partners, it probably took a lot of courage to finally come forward.
For some of us, we'd be tempted to go to the police if our partners even threatened to do crap like that. But for abused women? They don't feel in control of their own lives. She probably finally let it slip to her sister about the marks she found, and the sister helped her get the police involved.
Cheryl at http://redpens-diapers.blogspot.com
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Tree 1-29-2008 @ 4:26PM
Maybe her husband convinced her it was an accident? I mean, who honestly wants to believe their spouse is capable of something like that?
I think the important thing to remember is when she found the marks again, she took action.
Most likely, she was abused herself or in love with her husband and wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Ethel 1-29-2008 @ 4:54PM
If you read the local papers (as in the Oregonian or the Statesman Journal, or even, gasp, the Albany Democrat-Herald) and not the Seattle ones, the dad was trying to teach his son to be the toughest guy around. He's a baby, but the dad wants him to be tough. Nice.
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ace 2-01-2008 @ 4:46AM
I call it injustice when the mother is having sex with her hubbys best friend while he's trying to support them and maybe rian got setup!! If he used it 1 time, that was one time to many since it gave the wife the perfect crime to get back at her husband.she is no camp fire girl. talk to her first husband and the exboyfriend that was doin her while rian was workin during this time.don't believe everything you read! to take a plea bargin, you have to admit guilt for reduced sentence or go to trial with a hung jury and get 29yrs in the big house !!we call this justice???
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