Dad with joint custody admits he beat 4-year-old son; pleads guilty to aggravated assault (Norristown, Pennsylvania)

This is what the system has developed into, folks. Nowadays, a never-married father can claim "joint custody" of a child, even though he has never been in a committed relationship with the mother or had any commitment to forming a family with her.

What you end up with are dads like RAHEEM ALI SMITH, who acquired joint custody shortly after discovering he was the biological father (May 2009). He then proceeded to beat his 4-year-old son with a belt "because he failed to use the bathroom as directed" (July 2009). The little boy developed serious complications (pancreatitis) as a result.

Take note of the timeline here. The beating took place only 2 months after Daddy got around to finding out he had impregnated the boy's mother. So basically, he got joint custody almost instantaneously, and then almost immediately thereafter, he manages to nearly kill this child. And explain to me again how daddies are discriminated against? This guy was a no-show for four long years, and he had no trouble at all getting joint custody. Now, as if by automatic decree, his "rights" are declared "equal" to those of the mother who gave birth to this child, fed this child, sheltered this child, loved and nurtured this child. Sounds to me like the bar for daddies has been set very low. Now it's the mothers who are discriminated against, whose contributions are consistently undervalued.

http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/05/20/news/doc4bf58c3fc3c23406814634.txt

Pottstown man admits to beating child, jailed
Published: Thursday, May 20, 2010

By Carl Hessler Jr., chessler@pottsmerc.com

NORRISTOWN – A Pottstown man is headed to jail after he admitted to beating his 4-year-old son with a belt and seriously injuring the child.

Raheem Ali Smith, 29, who listed addresses on West Third Street and on North Evans Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Thursday to 29 ½-to-59-months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the July 2009 incident.

Judge William J. Furber Jr., who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Smith to complete 10 years of probation after he’s released from jail. Smith is prohibited from having any contact with the child, now 5, for the duration of the sentence.

The judge turned down Smith’s request for immediate work release.

“You’ve got to earn the right of work release,” Furber told Smith, adding he will consider approving work release only after Smith completes at least half of his minimum prison sentence.

Smith must report to the jail on June 1 to begin serving the sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Todd Stephens explained the child’s mother was satisfied with the outcome of the case and believes the child is protected by the no-contact order issued by the judge.

“He’s doing well. But he and his mother do attend counseling as a result of this. But physically, he is doing well,” Stephens, referring to the boy, told the judge.

Smith and the child’s mother are not married but shared partial custody of the child. Smith learned he was the child’s father in May 2009, according to authorities.

According to court papers, Smith used a leather belt to discipline the child, who suffered bruises to his body, after the child failed to use a bathroom as directed by Smith. The beating caused the child to suffer pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the pancreas, which placed him in serious danger, according to testimony.