UNION, Maine — A 25-year-old local man was arrested over the weekend and charged with domestic violence assault and aggravated assault for brutally spanking his 4-year-old stepson, according to police.
Christopher Cunningham of Union was arrested after police found “severe” bruises covering his stepson’s bottom.
The boy’s grandmother, who lives in the same building as Cunningham, called police Saturday after she saw the black and blue bruises. When police showed up, the boy was playing in his grandmother’s yard.
“I introduced myself to [the boy] and asked if he hurt anywhere. He nodded his head yes. I asked him why he hurt and he put his hand on his left buttocks, up and down in a spanking motion,” Detective Dwight Burtis of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an affidavit filed in Knox County Superior Court.
Burtis indicated that when the boy pulled his pants down, the detective saw “severe” bruising. When questioned, Cunningham admitted that he had spanked the boy the night before, according to the affidavit.
“Cunningham told me that he was not surprised and attempted to justify his assault by stating that [the boy] was being bad and needed a good spanking,” Burtis wrote.
When Burtis told Cunningham’s wife — the boy’s mom — about the arrest, she told Burtis that the boy had been disruptive the night before and refused to go to sleep.
“She told me that he had been waking up his baby brother with his bad behavior. She went on to explain that she picked him up by his arms at one point and spanked him,” Burtis wrote. “Then she told me that her husband became very angry and picked Thomas up by the arms and shook him. She said that her husband then put [the boy] over his knee and spanked him hard.”
After hearing this, Burtis called the Department of Health and Human Services child protective division. The boy was brought to a local hospital to assess his injuries, including arm bruises. DHHS mandated that the mother not be allowed to be with her children unsupervised until the department investigates the matter, according to Burtis. The affidavit did not specify who the boy will live with during the investigation.
Cunningham was arrested Saturday and brought to Knox County Jail where he bailed out with $5,000 cash on Monday.
what about the baby, did they take him too!!!! how sad…they dont deserve kids!!!
Toddler taken from parents after spanking allegedly leaves ‘severe’ bruises
there is a 4yr old and another baby boy…..
I am sorry about that but most likely that is true, one kid goes, they all go, its just sick. I hope these kids find a home that they do not get abused
i think she’s asking about the baby in reference to the 4 year old waking up his little brother… not the 4 year old him self. not positive though
It says the mother is not allowed to be with her “children” unsupervised until the investigation is over. Given her seemingly uncaring reaction to the bruising and the charges filed I’m not sure she should ever get them back.
Sick just sick,
Thank you to the grandmother,she probably saved his life.
the stepdad needs a good beating got two girls and never once have they been spanked there is far better disipline than severly spanking this young man to leave bruises the mom is no better she spanked him too what about reading the lad a story to get him to sleep spanking is just gonna make him cry and be more disruptive some people dont deserve to have children kudos to gram for calling the police
sounds to me by her own statement to the detective that she either watched or knew for a fact that it happened, and did nothing to stop or seek care for her child. i know we’re just going off of a news report and it may or may not be entirely true, BUT if it is than she should get a charge of endangering the welfare of a child at minimum for not protecting her son. . . and BDN, please change the story so it doesn’t call this piece of a scum a step-dad, a DAD in any form wouldn’t abuse their children.
That is not a spanking that is a beating. Someone needs to give this dude a spanking as he defines it.
Some people just don’t get it. The kid is 4 years old, of course he is going to act up, thats what they do. These people should not be allowed to have kids.
If the boy is acting out I am guessing he has a very good reason to be if he is being treated like that! Makes you wonder what else has happened to him—they were so willing to justify what they did, wondering how much worse has happened to the little guy that they didn’t mention
!
I pray that DHHS will get this one right this time and not allow these two monster’s to have those children back. Whether they put the child in the custody of the grandmother is she is capable or not, they should never have custody of their children if they believe that is how to discipline them.
The mother is defending the actions of the step father? Mom, you’re not any better than your husband is. Thank God this little boy has a grandmother who cares enough to take action!
So why didn’t mommy get arrested?
I was just wondering the same thing… she pretty much said “oh well, he deserved it”
Horrible.
Unless I see pictures of the “severe” bruising I withhold judgment.
You need that kind of proof?
Sheesh I think the story pretty much sums it up. “Spanking” hard enough to leave a bruise. You have to hit pretty hard to leave a bruise with an open hand.
Thus my withholding. A bruise to a anti spanking person or a grandmother who is not liking the step dad is not always what most would think of as a bruise. Maybe it was a little pink? I did not see and thus I do not know for sure. I have friends who have been le’s for there whole life and they get calls all the time about someone beating a kid and all kinds of marks. While there are asshats in the world and state who abuse kids and should be locked away for there entire life in a very small box with no light and as little food and water to keep them alive and suffering the whole time many of the complaints and accusations are the result of a overzealous person reporting something they do not support.
Having heard horror story after horror story about the overly invasive DHHS in Maine and the removal of children for reasons that defy logic sorry for being skeptical. Talk to some Le’s who have delt with this type of thing and see the ratio of what most would consider abuse and the majority of cases that are not.
There were bruises on his arms, too, apparently from being shaken so hard. Withhold your judgement if you must. But I am pretty sure the police are trained in what and how to spot what is and what isn’t accetable in abuse cases. It seems you’re down on DHHS foe some bad cases you’ve heard of. That’s fine. But they were here in this case. Thank God.
Five paragraphs into this article:
“Burtis (of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office) indicated that when the boy pulled his pants down, the detective saw “severe” bruising.”
Not hard but consistently.
Sorry,but black and blues on a child is severe.No excuse…
If a 4 year old can say where he hurts without being persuaded, that is a severe enough beating.. in my eyes anyway!
The mom admitted to spanking her son too so why wasn’t she arrested along with the step dad? Maybe she didn’t hit him as hard, but if they’re going to arrest one for assault due to spanking the child they need to arrest the other as well.
I’m not saying it is right or wrong to strike a child, but both parties need to be held equally responsible.
Legally you can spank your child, but leaving bruises means you have assaulted them. I have known parents who punch kids in their stomach souly because they evidence is never there.
Makes no difference to me, A spanking is overkill, and both parents need to have mandatory parenting classes before they are allowed to have their children back. Now the child will be ward of the state and bee beat more inside the system then out. A no win circumstance.
You know parents who punch their kids in the stomach..I should hope you’ve reported them!
they where my parents….
Theres a difference between a spanking and a beating. Spanking should hurt the spanker, not the spankee.
you need a license for just about everything, yet anyone can have a child… poor kid!
I agree completely. Spare the rod spoil the child. A father is suppose to discipline the child, teach them right from wrong and respect. You cannot be your child’s best friend and be a good parent. Ask teachers about what they have to put up with when trying to teach the “modern” child. Ask a cop about the “modern” child. Discipline can be doled out in different ways, a outright beating of course not, but a child needs discipline. Like another commenter said I would have to see the bruises to judge.
to both you and the outdoorman – the problem was not that the child got a spanking. I would call that a beating! Dont defend this person, he didnt ‘spank’ his stepson, he beat him. And at 4 years old at that.
Pray tell did you actually see the so called bruises or are you just taking someones word for it?
Do I really need to see them? The article states the policeman and the grandmother reports them, the child points it out, the parents admit to it. Do you think that they are all lying? That is a pretty silly argument considering, dont you think? There is a huge difference between a spanking, and a beating. A spanking would be a swat on the butt, one, maybe two, open handed, and hard enough to scare but inflicting no real damage. It does not occur as a usual circumstance, but rather as a last resort because perhaps the child does not learn what NO means to a dangerous situation, and it does not leave bruises.
Sorry, but some children bruise easyly.
Dope.
If “some” children bruise easily, then refrain from bruising them. Jeez, some people have friggin’ rocks in their heads.
Does it even matter? The fact that there were bruises in the first place is bad enough.
No one has to prove anything to you. A crime was reported, investigated and an arrest was made. Period. Unless you are on the jury when the time comes, what you think doesn’t matter. Dope.
The grandmother saw it, the police saw it, the mother basically said the kid deserved it because he was acting up and waking up the baby… Sounds like an open & closed case to me. Neither parent is competent enough to handle the responsibility of having children. Four year old children are loud and rambunctious, it’s their right as a CHILD.
She needs her kids taken away, a tubal ligation probably wouldn’t hurt either. The last thing this world needs is her having more children to be her ignorant husbands punching bag.
Disciplining your child should never, ever leave any kind of bruise. Ever.
I agree 100%! I have 3 childeren ages 3,4,and 7 and yes I have given them a swat on their bottoms, however I have never HURT my child and left bruises on them. And I sure as heck never picked them up by their arms and shaken them! What if he would have dislocated his arms! As far as “some childeren bruis easly” that is BS! If you hit your hild so hard that he has bruises then you have HURT that baby! Therefore all the “safeness” that a child should feel when they are with their parents is gone! Some people should NOT have kids!
Wow, you might want to step out of the 40’s and join here in modern times, it is the MOTHER and FATHERS job to teach their children right from wrong, to LOVE their children above all else, to discipline their children (and to keep each others tempers in check), discipline should be used to teach, and beating your children teaches them that violence is the way to handle things, and they WILL act out that philosophy in their play, at their school, where ever, but they will repeat that behavior. The best way for a parent to teach is to lead by example, be a good role model!
Sounds like you’re a dope, too.
Good parenting? Really? Do you beat your kids? I have never had to lay a finger on my oldest son and he is a well behaved well mannered kid. So where did I go wrong; oh wait I haven’t. There are better ways to teach a child how to behave other than beating them. There’s a difference between raising a child and breaking a horse.
It sounds to me like this guy has anger issues and shouldn’t be responsible for dishing out discipline. I wager he’s probably gone after his wife as well
my dad never laid a hand on us growing up either, we all turned out fine without getting a spanking even tho we may have deserved it. And I too didn’t have it in me to spank our two boys either, they turned out just fine too, so, yes, when you are angry, that is not the time to punish your child, things can get way out of hand unfortunately as they did with this little boy. So glad the grandmother had the courage to speak up.
I hope you do NOT have children, there is a difference between spanking and beating, those who do not understand the difference do not have the intelligence that it takes to be a parent.
When I was young (many, many years ago), my parents used to spank me! These days there are other much severe punnishments such as taking away their computers, laptops and cell phones! Can you just imagine how tough their life would be without Facebook!!!
What is the matter with you? Spanking until there is severe bruising is “good” parenting?! Good parenting doesn’t bruise your child.
I hope you don’t have any children.
There are so many questions to this article! Why why why? Your child wont go to sleep so you “spank” him? Are they for real? I think a entire investigation goes on here and I hope that the baby hasnt experienced anything. I dont understand some people!
Omg, this is awful. I know people who look the other way, and allow their partner to be cruel to the children who r stepchildren. Some will sacrifice their children just to be with someone. I am hoping that Mr. Cunningham & the mother of this child be subjected to whatever pain they inflicted upon this child. Hoping that they do not get off lightly, or get this child back. They probably will get off & get him back though. DHS does not have a good track record.
I never could spank my children, I always found it difficult to justify hitting(spanking) that tiny little body as a form of discipline. It’s not right, it’s teaching our children that physical abuse is okay
Yo punk , the next time you feel like hitting something please feel free to look me up….we’ll see who ends up bruised. And “mom” ditch the loser and get some free parenting skills and advice , just saying…
These people who call themselves “parents” yea okay, he is 4 freaking years old. 4. and it was a step dad not his father so that makes me wonder where the childs real farther is and why he dont have an approite farther figure in his life. to leave bruises on a 4 year old is wrong and if the mother spanked him first it should of stopped there. This makes me so mad. and the sad thing is that i garentee that she will get the little boy back and stay with the jerk. what if it got out of hand and went to far. what if he does that to the baby when its old enough. its unbelievable. I pray for the little boy and the other child. :(
AlSO HOPE NO ONE BAILS HIM OUT SO MAYBE HE GETS BEAT IN JAIL!
I don’t have to SEE it, if the detective states that it was severe bruising, I take him at his word. Some people bruise easily, um, not that easy. Pretty classic case of a poor parent, bringing in an even worse parent, to help her parent, and the two of them will probably have caused a severe injury to a child at some point. I hope they never get the chance!
some people should not be allowed to reproduce (these parent’s are perfect example) the mom should of been arrested for not reporting abuse and picking her son up by the arm’s they r not parent’s just welfare abuser’s as well as child abuser’s. kudo’s grammy for protecting that little boy at least someone is watching out for him. to many childern dieing/being abused by the hands of a loved one.
I agree there is a difference between a spanking and a beating. According to law, it is ok to use corporal punishment to discipline children in Maine, but no long term damage should be on a child or more or much more than a red mark. If someone claims someone hit a child across the face, or gave a child a slap in the face, does the daycare, Family member, summer program, or school notice bruises? If not leave the parent alone please. The other parent is just looking for custody, and to be incredibly mean to their spouse, most likely ex, or soon to be ex.
My husband and I don’t believe in spanking. I was spanked as a child, and so was he. Not beaten, but spanked. I couldn’t stand being spanked because it seemed like I never truly understood either what I did wrong, or how to avoid not doing that same thing wrong again, somehow. That feeling was horrible, when at that age, so we just talk their ears off and remind them forever, not to do whatever it was, again. Guess what? It really works for us. The kids will beg us to stop talking sometimes because they get it. They get the point once they hear it 1000’s of times and have their DSI’s and tv taken away, or an activity they’d wanted to do that week.
If anyone should ever spank their own children, one should never, ever do so in anger as well. Sounds like the parents were angry. At that age the child probably thought, ‘so, this baby can wake me up, but I can’t wake him/her up?’ Really, kids do think this way. Takes a little explaining to help them understand, especially a 4 year old, but worth the extra explaining when it helps keep everyone happy and a child can possibly keep from needing counselling for the rest of their adult life.
There’s a difference between a beating and a spanking, this child got a beating.
Lock up the mother for bringing her child around such a loser. This obviously wasn’t the first time either.
Sounds like you’re a dope.
I hope this child’s father stands up for his son and sues for full custody. These stupid mothers who bring abusive step parents into there homes should be charged as well. How could she stand by and watch her little boy get beaten like that? Because she “loves” him. Yuck! Thank God the grandmother had the courage and conviction to stand up for this precious little boy.
Wanna bet the father is not interested.
Thank goodness the grandmother had the courage to call the police on a family member. She could have saved that child from a horrible future.
Situations like this make me both happy and also very sad. I am happy that this man was put in jail, if in fact he inflicted the injuries on this child. I am very sad that this little boy has to go through any of this. For the past 2 months, my family has gone through something similar, but in our case, our son inflicted his own injury and is too embarrassed to admit it. Poor kid pinched his own cheeks one night when put to bed early then on one occasion he pulled some hair from his head because he was told to get in the corner for screaming at us to shut up while we were trying to get him to go get ready for school. DHHS cleared our household with no findings after reviewing his medical records and it showing he is being treated for a hair pulling disorder. The DA has decided that my husband, stepdad, should be charged with domestic abuse. All for putting my son in the corner, for good reason. I use 3 forms of punishment in my house: 1. corner time/time out 2. raising my voice 3. removing electronic gadgets from their posession for a set amount of time. DHHS/Police need re-training on how to recognize true abuse from the appearance of abuse. It sure sounds like little boy was beat hard, but everyone should wait for things to come out.
Good luck with that will never happen. I know a family that abused there son for years(he is 19 now). Six years later dhs finally got involved and took him out of the house.
To bad the same wasn’t done with Baby Alya she would be alive today.
I had my butt swatted a few times growing up, but never to the extent that bruises were left on my body…
If you think beating a child is what will make them good people, you are wrong.
Most people who commit crimes are the product of some type of abusive upbringings…
There are ways to discipline a child without causing them harm…
We are only loaned our children we don’t own them. These brutish people should never be allowed to have them. I hope these two will never be allowed to be around any children again.
Are you for real?
Stupid people shouldn’t breed …. the bad part is these poor kids will be returned to thier parents. Shameful!
He has no reason to ever lay a hand on a child. I hope he gets whats coming to him. An Eye for an Eye. Children will remember getting spanked, and it leaves long term dramatic issues, like failure to trust adults, PTSD and many other damaging problems.
Disgusting. Positively disgusting.
I believe in spanking when needed, but to leave bruises is not a spanking, its assault.
when needed? that’s nutz. hitting a child is never “needed.” unless you’re an uneducated redneck.
Let me know how your timeout works on your 3 or 4 year old when they dont mind.
My 3-4 yr old is now 11, well-behaved, kind, and loving. I’ve never laid a hand on her…
I wish DHS had intervened in my life as a kid. But beatings were more accepted back then.