Mother beats daughter for sending lewd messages

A mother was moved to tears as she stood in the prisoner's dock in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday, after explaining that she beat her teenage daughter with electric wire after discovering that she was engaging in illicit conversations.

"I am a single parent of two girls. I work very hard, make a lot of sacrifices to care for them. I do not beat my kids unnecessarily unless I have spoken to them over and over and that is one of the reasons why she got beaten. Also, it has come to my knowledge that she is interested in other things that is not childish and it hurts me, as a mother, to see my 14-year-old texting her friend disgusting things that she wants to do," said the defendant while fighting back tears.

She pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and cruelty to child, following the incident on March 30. It was shared that she used the electric wire to hit the child causing bruising and swelling.

"I agree that I have scolded her with ignorance and anger but I apologise," she said.

"Have you tried speaking to her, in terms of the things you have observed?" Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque asked.

"I have spoken to her over and over and over Your Honour. I am a mother that talks to her kids but she is not listening, she is following ... and I see that she is going down the wrong path," the mother said.

Judge Cole-Montaque sympathised with the woman, indicating that the hardest job is to raise a child and to parent a teenager, especially since they are exposed to things before they are supposed to.

"I know it is hard but there is a place as a parent you mustn't go," the senior judge indicated. She adjourned the matter until May 25, and requested a social enquiry report to assist with sentencing.