Third Child's Death Puts Focus on Pastor's Book on Child Rearing and Whippings
The death of a 13-year-old adoptee from Ethiopia has raised new concerns about a pastor’s book advocating whippings with a plastic tube for unruly children.
A Washington state couple, Larry and Carri Williams of Sedro-Woolley, were charged in their daughter’s death on Sept. 29, the New York Times reports. It is the third case in which the book was found in the homes of parents who were accused in the deaths of children.
A sheriff’s report alleged the Washington state girl died from exposure and malnutrition after being forced to sleep in a cold barn or closet, denied food for days at a time, and beaten with a plastic tube. The mother, Carri Williams, had praised a book on child rearing by Tennessee preacher Michael Pearl and his wife that advocates using “the rod” to discipline children, according to the report.
Pastor Pearl tells the New York Times that he recommends use of the plastic tube for punishment because “it’s a good spanking instrument” and “it’s too light to cause damage to the muscle or the bone.” But he and his wife, Debi, say they don’t advocate acting in anger or bruising children, and it’s wrong to blame their book for parental abuse. “If you find a 12-step book in an alcoholic’s house, you wouldn’t blame the book,” Michael Pearl said.
The prosecutor in the case says the Pearls are not being charged, and the case for homicide doesn’t depend on anything the couple read or the religion they practiced, the Times says.
Coverage of corporal punishment issues:
ABAJournal.com: “Texas Judge Won’t Be Charged re Viral Beating Video, Says Daughter Posted It Out of Spite”
