Riviera man arrested after spanking girl, 5, left bruises
Man told police that ‘discipline’ was over acting out in school.
RIVIERA BEACH — A Riviera Beach man spanked a 5-yearold after learning she’d misbehaved in preschool, city police records show. The “discipline,” as 25-year-old Dennis Murdock called it, left bruises on the girl’s buttocks and thighs.
“I can’t believe it’s illegal to whoop (a child),” Murdock reportedly told police.
One bruise is all it takes for of f i c ers t o have probable cause of child abuse, cit y police spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown said. It is illegal to put a physical mark on a child.
Murdock was arrested Feb. 6 and released later that day on his own recognizance, court records show. A judge ordered Murdock not to have contact with minor children or the little girl.
When a woman picked up the girl Feb. 5, she noticed four bruises on the girl’s buttocks and two on her left thigh that appear to have been caused by a belt, police records state. The girl had been with Murdock for the weekend.
Murdock told police he didn’t want to hurt the girl. He only wanted to teach her that acting out in school is unacceptable. He thought h e ’d u s e d a r e a s o n a b l e force to do so, he said, and reminded the girl he loved her afterward.
State law draws the line between discipline and abuse by looking at the caregiver’s intentions and the child’s injuries. If a child is uninjured by the physical discipline, the action is legal. But “inappropriate or excessively harsh” di sc ipline, which likely will c ause physic al or emotional pain, is not.
The Florida Department of Children and Families looks at where the injury occurred, its severity and whether similar incidents have occurred before. DCF officials were called to investigate the case involving Murdock and the little girl, police records show.
Murdock pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana in 2015, court records show, his only conviction in Palm Beach County.