http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4761488a6009.html
Dad who smacked loses son
Katie Wylie and Nelson Mail – The Press | Saturday, 15 November 2008
A Christchurch man has lost custody of his young son despite his trial on assault charges being abandoned.
Rowan James Flynn, 53, was this week scheduled to stand trial in Nelson on five charges of assaulting his 12-year-old son, then aged 11.
He also faced one charge of assaulting a female and two charges of leaving a child under 14 without reasonable supervision.
Nelson District Court Judge Tony Zohrab discharged Flynn after the Crown offered no evidence on the assault charges.
Prosecutor Janine Bonifant said the decision did not mean the Crown believed the alleged offences had not taken place.
Flynn, an unemployed father-of-four now living in a caravan in Christchurch, was charged after his son called the police from the family’s Nelson home.
He had allegedly hit his son about five times on the bottom with a wooden spoon after he was disobedient, and he said it was a “tiny issue” that blew up.
He said he had also “clipped” his son around the face but, as a Christian, believed the Bible condoned his disciplinary methods.
“I smacked him but I never assaulted him,” he said. “When he was in a defiant mood there was just no dealing with him.
“I do very strongly believe in smacking children as a means of correction.”
Yesterday, he learned that Child, Youth and Family (CYF) has interim custody of his son and that he may not contact the boy, who is now living with Flynn’s sister in Nelson, without consent and supervision.
“It’s absolutely disgusting. There was no need for it and it is just a clear and blatant abuse of (CYF’s) powers,” he said.
“Obviously, he doesn’t like getting his bum smacked, but that’s the whole point. I do not pose a threat to him at all.”
CYF general manager of operations, Lorraine Williams, said: “While criminal charges may have been dropped, in this case, on the balance of probabilities, we still have concerns for the boy’s safety and will continue to work with his family for a successful outcome.”
Nelson police have defended their decision to prosecute Flynn as correct and in the public interest.
Family First New Zealand national director Bob McCoskrie said the withdrawal of the charges was proof that good parents trying to deal with unacceptable behaviour from their children were being dragged before the courts without evidence to back up the charges.
“This case adds to our growing list of parents who are either being convicted, charged or investigated for attempting to correct their children in the most appropriate and effective way,” he said.
Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro said Flynn’s methods of discipline were not justified.
“It doesn’t wash, frankly. There is no justification for violence against children and people who think that there is basically need to learn some new techniques,” she said.
“They need to learn that in fact violence begets violence and this is no way to treat children.”
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