Anthony Sanchez, elected city official, was caught on camera by his neighbor beating his stepson in his yard. The video appears to show Sanchez yelling at a little boy after he could not catch a ball and then beating him with a belt. The neighbor who filmed him, Oscar Lopez, could be heard yelling at Sanchez to stop.
Sanchez, California Imperial Irrigation District Director, was arrested on Friday for suspicion of felony child abuse charges, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. He stepped down from his post on Saturday, after a petition quickly drew in over 1,000 people demanding his resignation.
Is spanking a child considered to be "felony child abuse"? There is a level of hysteria over this case, based on the quick online petition and the rush to demand for Anthony Sanchez's resignation.
Although the video is disturbing, the details of the circumstances are not known fully. It may be wise to put this in the, "reserve judgement" category; However, it is not looking good for the California Democrat, who seems to have some anger management issues.
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Comments: 28
I don't know how anyone thinks that anything they do outside won't be photographed or taped any more. Everyone has cell phones in their hands any more that capture everything.
I don't know...I am uncomfortable with the idea of a man being filmed and having his family life being put on YouTube, him losing his job, being tried in the court of public opinion when the only evidence we have is the video. Again, on it's face it does seem to be horrendous....perhaps I am playing devil's advocate.........
Think about this kid. First he's belted by his dad, who he probably loves regardless. Then he has front row to his father being emasculated, threatened, and called down by his neighbor, who will be his neighbor for the rest of his childhood, in all likelihood. Because of the publicity, he gets to rerun this episode every day for the rest of his life. And now he has to deal with his dad being unemployed, and for a time at least, unemployable.
This neighbor did the kid no favor. Turn the video over to authorities, interrupt the act, sure. This shouldn't have been posted, if the welfare of the child is consideration one.
You cannot teach your kid to be a pro athlete. Thats up to him, the personal dedication is unavoidable. The child must want to become a machine, genetics only gets you to first base in this day and age.