Parents guilty of assaulting daughter over nude Snapchat photos to be sentenced Tuesday
Salmon Arm, B.C. couple 'spanked' daughter with mini hockey stick and skipping rope after finding nude photos
A couple who were convicted of assault for spanking their 14-year-old daughter will be sentenced Tuesday in provincial court in Salmon Arm, B.C.
The father and mother — both from Salmon Arm — were found guilty in January for hitting their daughter with a mini hockey stick and skipping rope after learning she had sent nude photos of herself to her boyfriend on Snapchat.
- Read Provincial Court judgement
- 'Spanking' over nude Snapchat photo leads to assault conviction for parents
The incident took place on Valentine's Day of last year, and only came to light after the girl showed her bruised buttocks to two of her girlfriends, who in turn reported what they had seen to their school principal.
Provincial court Judge Edmond de Walle found no excuse for the spanking.
"In this day and age, any reasonable parent would be concerned about a teenager sending nude pictures of him or herself via a cellphone or any other electronic device. The pitfalls and dangers of such activities are well-reported. Such behaviours can lead to bullying and even suicide," de Walle wrote.
"To suggest that responding to such acts by a teenaged daughter (14 going on 15 years), by spanking her with an object, would be educative or corrective, is simply not believable or acceptable by any measure of current social consensus."
According to the decision, the father struck his daughter two or three times with a plastic mini hockey stick about 45 centimetres in length. He then told his wife what had happened.
"The mother became upset and picked up a skipping rope that was in the garage," the decision says.
"She hit her daughter two or three times on her buttocks with the skipping rope. The mother said she was doing this because she loved her daughter."
On the stand, the father, who had no criminal record, described his family as Christian. His father used to discipline him with an orange plastic spoon.
"He testified that the hand is used for compassion and love, not for discipline," de Walle wrote.