Australian women sentenced for threatening to cut off boy's penis

[SplitDik (imported)]

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/child ... -9gw0.html

Childcare workers threatened to cut off boy's penis

* March 30, 2009 - 3:00PM

Two childcare workers have been handed suspended jail terms for holding a knife to a four-year-old boy and threatening to cut off his penis.

The mother and daughter admitted making the threats to "shock" the boy so he'd stop exposing himself at the Perth daycare centre where they worked, the Armadale Magistrates Court was told.

Sandra Kaye Ingraham, 60, and her daughter Kelly Sandra Ingraham, 28, of the south-eastern Perth suburb of Kelmscott, were each handed nine-month jail terms, wholly suspended.

They covered their faces as they walked free from court, where the mother had pleaded guilty to two charges of unlawful assault and the daughter guilty to one count.

The attacks, which were witnessed by other children, occurred between January and April last year.

Police told the court a knife had been held just 30cm away from the boy as Sandra Ingraham on one occasion said: "I'll chop your willy off."

Kelly Ingraham had said: "You know the consequences, I'll chop it off."

But the women's lawyer Bill Evangel told the court they'd only made the threats in order to shock the boy into behaving.

Outside the court, the boy's grandmother told reporters that since the assaults, the boy had tried to harm himself a number of times and she'd been forced to hide her kitchen knives.

Magistrate Brian Glustein told the pair they had assaulted a child whose welfare had been placed in their hands.

"Each assault was constituted by responsible ladies holding a knife to the boy," Mr Glustein said.

He sentenced both women to nine months on each of the charges, wholly suspended, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

The women were initially charged with four counts of aggravated assault but the charge was amended when they changed their pleas from not guilty on the eve of a trial.

[Hash (imported)]

Gee, all they had to do was tell the parents that the boy was no longer welcome because he kept exposing himself and that would have been that. To threaten a kid like this can leave permanent scars and cause unforgettable dreams that will likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

[ramses (imported)]

Maybe the little bastard should have kept his willy in his pants. It seems the law went to far as to bring charges here.

[Kortpeel (imported)]

Gee!

To threaten a kid like this can leave permanent scars and cause unforgettable dreams that will likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

Yeah. Now that kid may grow up to have penectomy fantasies.

[DeaconBlues (imported)]

Maybe the little bastard should have kept his willy in his pants. It seems the law went to far as to bring charges here.

This is a difficult one for me to call. I did not actually hear or see any of the evidence that might have been presented in court. Goodness knows, there have been times that I have dealt with misbehaving children, sometimes harshly (usually a loud shout straightens out most children), but NEVER have I even suggested "cutting off" any part of a child's body, and I pointedly do NOT discuss childrens sexuality or their genitals.

When I contemplate what I would do to anyone who threatened to cut of my own child's parts... but my children have never been "weenie wagers" - even so, just why is that such a horrible thing? Well, I think the day-care workers clearly let themselves get out of control, even it they did not mean to actualy put the knife to flesh, a weapon should never be used on a child, even in only a mock threat.

Odd, but nobody seemed to want to know or understand just what compelled the child to become an exhibitionist at such an early age.... Seems to me that someone should be looking in to that. Could very well be that the kid only started exposing himself because he was fascinated with the bizarre reaction he was getting from his otherwise lethargic caretakers.

[Paolo]

Agreed - something triggered the boy to want to show everyone his penis ... but what made him want to?

This news story is not detailed enough in what really happened, and is obviously written to be "sensational" to get attention: "Oh my God, they threatened to cut off his penis! Read this!" - well, mission accomplished there.

[JesusA (imported)]

What I find scariest about this brief news item is that

Outside the court, the boy's grandmother told reporters that since the

assaults, the boy had tried to harm himself a number of times and

she'd been forced to hide her kitchen knives.

As a first posted result of the great Eunuch Archive survey (we're still months away from tabulating all of the data from 3,061 respondents):

Of those eunuchs who have had their testicles removed, 15% report having been threatened with castration while they were children. Of those who have been penectomized, 23% report threats. Of those who have been nullified, 28% reported such threats.

[JoaoGenerico (imported)]

Yeah. Now that kid may grow up to have penectomy fantasies.

Future Archive member in the making ?

[JoaoGenerico (imported)]

What I find scariest about this brief news item is that

As a first posted result of the great Eunuch Archive survey (we're still months away from tabulating all of the data from 3,061 respondents):

Of those eunuchs who have had their testicles removed, 15% report having been threatened with castration while they were children. Of those who have been penectomized, 23% report threats. Of those who have been nullified, 28% reported such threats.

It would be nice to have "control group" to derive the statistical significance of the correlation... like what percentage of the general male population recalls to be threatened with genial mutilation as a kid ?

[Kangan (imported)]

I'd agree with Jesus and the rest of you about the threats of mutilation emotionally scarring the poor child for life. I don't recall any such threats in my life, but I do recall feeling inadequate about my genital size thanks to comments by my father and mother. (For the record - they were normal size - my genitals that is....)

That feeling of inadequacy drove me to peep on other children and have sex with boys just to see their genitals erect. So threats of mutilation definitely could affect this child adversely.

Why was he exposing himself? - sounds like so sex abuse was also happening at home....