Father uses dog collar to shock kids

[mrsmaalox]

http://img201.imagevenue.com/loc63/th_60392_bilde_122_63lo.jpg
Father uses dog collar to shock kids

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090506/NEWS/905060441

The Salem, Oregon man faces four charges of mistreatment

By Stacey Barchenger • Statesman Journal May 6, 2009

A Salem man was arrested Tuesday for putting an electric dog collar on each of his four children and shocking them.

Todd Marcum, 41, said he did it "because he thought it was funny," Salem Police Lt. Dave Okada said.

The four children, ages 3, 6, 8 and 9, had been shocked while wearing the collar at least once, according to a statement from their father, Okada said.

Marcum told police that he would chase the 3-year-old boy around with the collar, making him cry at the thought of being shocked. Okada said that because of the boy's behavior, it is likely that the children were shocked more than once.

Oregon Department of Human Services workers on Tuesday summoned police to Marcum's Salem home.

Marcum was taken into custody on four charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment. He is in the Marion County jail.

The four children were left in the custody of their mother, Okada said. The case has been handed over to DHS.

Dog shock collars are used in training and to control barking, said John Seroczynski, the national sales manager for D.T. Systems.

The Dallas, Texas, company manufactures the electronic collars.

It is unknown whether the collar used on the children was made by D.T. Systems.

"There's not one collar made today that can actually burn a dog or a person," Seroczynski said.

Most collars are powered by a 9-volt battery and don't produce a large enough shock to injure a person, he said. Seroczynski said it was not likely that the children were seriously injured.

"He definitely would not have hurt them to the point that it would have damaged any organs or caused them to be hospitalized," he said.

The charge of one collar is less powerful than that of a Taser, such as the kind used by police, he said.

Seroczynski said the collars are not to be used on humans.

"Regardless of what your kids are like, it's sure not going to cure any behavioral problems," he said. "Bottom line is, what he did was dead wrong."

[BlackSwordsMan]

typical left wing media

[td4mvp21]

Put one on that bitch and see how he likes it, that's what I say.

[timvp]

The charge of one collar is less powerful than that of a Taser, such as the kind used by police, he said.Thanks for that clarification.

[mrsmaalox]

Thanks for that clarification.

Yea really; don't need to be blowing the whole thing out of proportion :)

[Heath Ledger]

This kind of discipline actually makes sense as long as he only did it once (shock the kid) Cuz I know if my dad did that shit to me, I would never fuck up again. It might have saved me a few trips to juvie and a school for boys. I would grow up and say thanks dad, you set me straight early.

Hmmmm.... anyone know where I can get one of these collars? :lol

[Summers]

Marcum told police that he would chase the 3-year-old boy around with the collar, making him cry at the thought of being shocked.

That is hilarious! If only I weren't already married to RG...!

[MiamiHeat]

...

[PixelPusher]

Electrocuting your kids is all the rage these days...


Two other Florida prisons zapped visiting kids with stun guns
(http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article998415.ece)
By Meg Laughlin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Two more state prisons have acknowledged incidents in which guards zapped visiting children with handheld stun guns, bringing to three the number of facilities where the unapproved demonstration was used on "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day."

On Friday, the Department of Corrections said that several kids visiting Franklin Correctional Institution in the Panhandle on April 24 were shocked by a guard who was demonstrating what corrections officers do at work. On Tuesday, the department revealed that children visiting Indian River Correctional Institution in Vero Beach and Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown were also zapped with 50,000-volt electronic immobilization devices.

The devices used on the children, who are between the ages of 8 and 14, require bodily contact. Used on unruly inmates, the devices usually knock victims to the ground, cause a few minutes of disorientation and leave two small burn marks.

The daughter of the warden at Indian River was among the victims.

Frank Gonzalez, the owner of Self-Defense USA, a large stun gun company in San Diego, describes the 50,000-volt shock as "similar to grabbing a live wire in your house with a wet hand — like a hard punch in the stomach with the added trauma of electricity running through your body."

The Department of Corrections did not release the number of children, or their conditions or names. But Matthew Foster, an attorney for one of the children who was injured at Franklin, said that more than six children were shocked at that facility.

His client, a 12-year-old girl, sustained abrasions and trauma when the powerful jolt knocked her to the ground, requiring a doctor's treatment, said Foster, who asked that neither the child nor her father be named. Her mother works at the prison and gave permission for the demonstration, according to Foster, but the father, who is separated from the mother, did not approve and has sued.

"These devices are designed for stopping dangerous prisoners and can cause injury or death," Foster said. "They are not for experimenting on children."

Upon hearing rumors that Franklin was not an isolated incident, George Sapp, deputy secretary of institutions for the Department of Corrections, began calling wardens around the state. His survey turned up two more similar incidents on the same day, said Gretl Plessinger, a corrections spokeswoman.

Ten employees — five at Indian River, which incarcerates teenage males between 14 and 18, and five at Martin, which incarcerates adult males — have been suspended while the incidents are investigated. At Franklin, a guard was fired last week.

Plessinger said it appeared the three incidents were "separate and unrelated," with no coordination or planning linking them. But the possibility will receive further scrutiny, she said.

"There are very clear rules about when, where and who these devices are to be used on, and all officers are clearly trained in this. So, we don't yet know how this could have happened at three facilities on the same day," Plessinger said.

The suspended employees at Martin and Indian River did not return phone calls from the Times.

State Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, chairman of the House Council on Criminal and Civil Justice Policy, said he and other legislators will be watching to see what the Correction Department investigation determines.

"If we think the department is not thorough and is taking care of its own, we'll step in," Robaina said. "But first Walt McNeil (secretary of the Department of Corrections) deserves the chance to handle this internally."

The 10 suspended employees, who are on administrative leave with pay, received a letter telling them that when the investigation is completed they will either be notified of their return date or told not to come back to work.

[SpursStalker]

Put one on that bitch and see how he likes it, that's what I say.

+1

*some people should NOT be allowed to breed*

[I Love Me Some Me]

That way they learn.

[Fat boy]

white collar crime.

[phyzik]

hate to say it but I can already think of 4 kids off the top of my head that probably deserve the collar. Not because "It's funny" like this dumbass, but because they just dont listen no matter how many times you spank them for the same offense.

[JudynTX]

I'd like to use this on a few posters.

[mrsmaalox]

white collar crime.

:lol

[Road House Captain]

That fat piece of shit needs an ass whooping