UPDATE::Couple sentenced to probation for church-directed child abuse : Wsj

“The troubling part is that this behavior is not simply illegal,” Berz said, “it is obviously wrong, just wrong, and you could not, with your intelligence and your love for your children, recognize that.”

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If it is so troubling then why are they not sitting in jail?

Assistant District Attorney Greg Venker said he agreed with the couple’s lawyers to recommend 18 months of probation because the couple has now gone more than three years without violating a condition of their bail that they not physically discipline their children. He also said they have no rehabilitative needs, having completed the requirements of a consent decree set by a juvenile court judge.

Berz said the sentence she handed down would not be a judgment on anyone’s religion and would not be about parental rights or a statement on corporal punishment.

While she said that the physical harm done to the Caminiti children was far less serious than many other abuse cases, she chided the Caminitis for blindly following “what should have been seen as misguided.”

Infants and toddlers, Berz said, who don’t have the capacity to walk or crawl, won’t have the capacity to modify their behavior as a result of punishment they receive.

“You two should have understood that,” Berz said. “You should have understood the absurdity of your punishment.”

I can guarantee we will be hearing from this couple again. Next it will be about a funeral.

Couple sentenced to probation for church-directed child abuse : Wsj