Wellington: A New Zealand national who spanked his son on the bottom three times because he was naughty at school has been convicted of assault under a new law forbidding parents from smacking their kids.
The man, 33, was sentenced to nine months supervision in which he was ordered to take courses in anger management and parenting and get relationship counseling, the Dominion post said today. The man admitted a charge of assault yesterday when he appeared in a domestic violence court in Masterton. The court has heard that the man was told that his son has caused problems at the school.
In a fit of anger he grabbed the shoulder of the boy's clothes, flipped his son over his knee and smacked him thrice on the bottom with an open palm. The boy's shoulder was bruised and his wife, who is expecting their fourth child, took photograph of the bruise, which she showed to a relative who reported it to police.
