In Brown v. Brown (2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 07534, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, October 27, 2011), a mother washed her children’s mouths out with soap, even after being told not to by a social worker. The Supreme Court wrote:
Evidence regarding the mother’s forms of punishment, which partially led to an indicated report of inadequate guardianship, was sufficient to show a change of circumstances (see Matter of Terry I. v Barbara H., 69 A.D.3d 1146, 1147 [2010]). The mother acknowledged that she put liquid dish soap in the children’s mouths on multiple occasions to punish them. There was some proof that she or her boyfriend used enough soap to make bubbles flow from her son’s mouth on one occasion. Rather than admit that this may not be appropriate, the mother testified that after speaking to a child protective caseworker, she switched to a different type of soap; the caseworker testified that she instructed the mother not to use soap as punishment at all. Other forms of punishment that the mother used included making a child stand in the corner for hours at a time and refusing to allow her daughter to speak for at least several days, possibly an entire week, with a monetary penalty imposed for every word that was uttered.
Not surprisingly, Father got custody.
