Hot Sauce Mom from Dr. Phil on trial

[luckylibrarian]

The article doesn't say if the children are still in the home. I'm not sure foster care would be any better for them. It doesn't sound like the mother realizes how abusive she has been.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Jurors on Wednesday watched video of a woman squirting hot sauce in the mouth of her adopted son and then making him stand in a cold shower in a case that caused a public uproar in Russia after it aired on the "Dr. Phil" show.

Jessica Beagley, of Anchorage, is charged with misdemeanor child abuse. Beagley's lawyer said she was punishing the 7-year-old boy from Russia because he misbehaved in school and then lied about it.

Beagley used unusual methods because more traditional forms of punishment had not worked with the boy, attorney William Ingaldson said.

Beagley went on the "Dr. Phil" show to try and get help for herself and the boy, Ingaldson told jurors. But, prosecutors say, what Beagley did went beyond what would be considered reasonable parental discipline and amounted to child abuse.

She submitted the nine-minute video, made on Oct. 21, 2010, for an episode titled "Mommy Confessions." It shows the 36-year-old mother talking forcefully to the boy in a hallway in the family's home.

"Why did you lie to me? Does it work to lie to me?" she asks the child.

Beagley asks the boy what happens when he lies. "I get hot sauce," the crying boy replies.

The video shows Beagley leading the boy into a bathroom, where he sits on the counter next to the sink and she squirts hot sauce in his mouth. "Don't spit it," she says.

"Are lies supposed to be out of your mouth?" she yells, her arms braced on either side of him. When he admits to lying, she allows him to spit out the hot sauce.

She then explains to the child that he is going to get in a cold shower for lying about misbehavior at school: wriggling in his seat and sword-fighting with pencils.

The video did not show the child in the shower, but the boy's screams can be heard.

"Listen to your teacher," she says. "You are to do what you are told."

Viewers contacted Anchorage police after the "Dr. Phil" episode aired last November.

Beagley and her husband, an Anchorage police officer, are trying to give two orphans a chance at a better life, Ingaldson told jurors. The Beagleys, who have four biological children, adopted the twin boys after they had been in the orphanage for three years.

He said the twins were born to a mother with a drinking problem and a father who was in and out of jail. When Russia investigators caught up with the family, they were living in a shack. The boys slept on shelves in an armoire, he said.

The boys were placed in an orphanage where the mother visited three times before abandoning them, Ingaldson said.

The couple "thought this was their chance to make a difference in kids' lives," Ingaldson said.

[lilwriter85]

Didn't Lisa Whelcel support this lady or hot sauce discipline?

[luckylibrarian]

Lisa Whelcel is a big proponent of hot sauce discipline. I don't think she has ever publicly supported this lady, but I bet she would.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

Too bad she is only charged with a misdemeanor. I remember the discussion when this first aired and someone mentioned that the cold water coming out of the shower in Alaska is several degrees colder than anywhere down here, making this "punishment" especially cruel.

[Kitty]

Kids adopted from countries like Russia and China tend to have all kinds of mental and emotional problems. Frankly, the antics at school were typical kid stuff. I don't even know why the school even contacted the mom, unless it's a constant thing... but even then. Even if it is constant it's fairly harmless, if annoying for a teacher. Seriously, why the hell does our education system expect little boys to still still for 6-7 hours a day? wtf.

Why the hell does she think the boy lied? Because he was probably going to be beaten. All of that shit was overkill, massively. I've heard of other people hot-saucing, but IIRC it wasn't like 7 year olds were getting a mouthful of it! ffs people! And a cold shower? She DOES realize that unless hot water is unavailable for whatever reason, cold showers are literally a form of TORTURE? They're that fucking unpleasant. I had to take cold showers after a hurricane knocked out my power for a whole week back in 2003. Believe me, that shit SUCKED. I can't magine having to take a cold shower as a punishment. I get cold easily, and when I get cold, I hurt. even if it's simply walking around outside in 60 degree weather with no gloves on. (Yeah, I think I may have Reyaud's...) Granted, I live in North Carolina, but I can't imagine how cold unheated water in Alaska is.

Getting in a child's face and inflicting that sort of pain on him is sadistic. Tht bitch was on a massive power trip. I'll bet that she tried the "traditional punishments" once and gave up. Evil bitch. Sometimes it takes a few tries for 'traditional punishments' to work. Oh, and guess what? She should have done her research- as I said before, kids from orphanages in Russia, China, etc. often have emotional and behavioral problems. Seriously, what the fuck. Kids who have been abandoned and neglected will act out, to test limits. Squirting hot sauce into their mouths and forcing them into cold showers while screaming in their faces like a power-tripping harpy is not the way to deal with them.

[Kitty]

Lisa Whelcel is a big proponent of hot sauce discipline. I don't think she has ever publicly supported this lady, but I bet she would.

Some "Facts of Life" star (same lady? I don't know her name) was on TV a few years ago explaining it. I was under the impression that hot-saucers only gave their kids a few drops. t's been a while since I saw the video of this sadistic harpy but it looked like more than a few drops.

[Koala]

I hope to god they convict her and give her the maximum punishment allowed by law.

I saw that video, and it absolutely broke my heart into for that little guy. He deserves so much better.

There is no justice in this world if that woman still has children in her home.

[Maggie Mae]

I had a friend who's mom did hot sauce for bad words, back in the 90s. It didn't seem that bad at the time, much better than the soap my grandmother used. Of course, it's completely ineffective (IMO) to tell me to not use specific words because they are "bad". Does anyone know if there is other documented abuse, besides the Dr Phil video?

Granted, I live in North Carolina, but I can't imagine how cold unheated water in Alaska is.

It's about the same as cold water anywhere.

[DistantStar]

You haven't felt my cold Idaho well water in January, cpennylane, trust me, it's far colder than the cold water elsewhere I've lived. Even in the summer it's cold enough that it hurts my teeth. It'd be cruel to force anybody into a cold shower in my house, let alone elsewhere.

Poor kid. I remember seeing this footage. And I'm not sure how much more damning evidence you can find than stuff that was on national TV!

[Grace]

My aunt used hot sauce for stuff like bad words, lying, talking back, basically anything misbehaving that came from talking with her kids because NOTHING else worked for her son. Seriously the most thick-headed/stubborn kid I've ever met. But it was a single DROP of hot sauce, not a mouthful and certainly not enough that would need to be spit out. And he also was not adopted with special circumstances behind his behavior. He was just a mule.

[jenny_islander]

Too bad she is only charged with a misdemeanor. I remember the discussion when this first aired and someone mentioned that the cold water coming out of the shower in Alaska is several degrees colder than anywhere down here, making this "punishment" especially cruel.

I live in Kodiak, which is south temperate for Alaska, and this is absolutely true in winter. My hands don't feel cold when I do a cold load in wintertime--they hurt. Detergent that is supposed to work in cold water generally doesn't in wintertime.

[TMS]

Even in New York tap water is very cold in the winter. When I lived there, it was like ice water, right out of the tap. I remember the toilet tank always had condensation on it because the water was so freaking cold. I couldn't brush my teeth using the cold water during the winter because it literally hurt!

[Wolfie]

My parents tried hot sauce on my hands when I was little and they wanted me to stop biting my nails. It didn't work, I sucked it off my hands because I loved the spice. (not all children are adverse to spice.)

But the cold showers, that would be torture, and I expect it could be danergous if it was cold enough.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Some "Facts of Life" star (same lady? I don't know her name) was on TV a few years ago explaining it. I was under the impression that hot-saucers only gave their kids a few drops. t's been a while since I saw the video of this sadistic harpy but it looked like more than a few drops.

Yes, Lisa Whelchel is the "Fact of Life" lady.

[Kitty]

You haven't felt my cold Idaho well water in January, cpennylane, trust me, it's far colder than the cold water elsewhere I've lived. Even in the summer it's cold enough that it hurts my teeth. It'd be cruel to force anybody into a cold shower in my house, let alone elsewhere.

Poor kid. I remember seeing this footage. And I'm not sure how much more damning evidence you can find than stuff that was on national TV!

^this. I understand that well water gets colder the further north you go. Maybe in Florida or Hawaii it's not so bad, but in North Carolina it's very unpleasant even in summer, and in Alaska it would be horrible.

[let-them-eat-cake]

Some "Facts of Life" star (same lady? I don't know her name) was on TV a few years ago explaining it. I was under the impression that hot-saucers only gave their kids a few drops. t's been a while since I saw the video of this sadistic harpy but it looked like more than a few drops.

Lisa says only a drop on the tip of the tongue.

Unlike that hot sauce lady, she doesn't say, "here kid, gulp this and swish it around in your mouth until you admit to doing what probably every other kid does in school -wriggle in your seat and play with your pencils."

The hot sauce is bad enough, but really it's the cold shower that irks me the most.

[Alecto]

My parents tried hot sauce on my hands when I was little and they wanted me to stop biting my nails. It didn't work, I sucked it off my hands because I loved the spice. (not all children are adverse to spice.)

My parents did the same to get me to stop sucking my thumb. It failed horribly because I've always loved hot sauce.

[xDreamerx]

Good. I hope the court mandates that she go to therapy or something. I think there's something seriously wrong with her and maybe a children's therapist could help the little boy as well.

[Antigone]

My parents did the same to get me to stop sucking my thumb. It failed horribly because I've always loved hot sauce.

Haha,. My daughter loves spice (she ate straight salsa out of the container when she was a toddler) but now she hates hot sauce. My grandparents used to threaten us with hot sauce but they never really did it, probably because we used hot sauce on everything growing up and were pretty immune to its effects....

Wow. I did suspect the hot sauce lady had more going on than 'just hot sauce' in her arsenal. I think I said on another thread concerning her, that I can see using a drop, and even then it depends on the kid/offense. Right now our kid has used some rude words, but out of ignorance, and we've simply told her that those words are not polite to use :) Hubby and I now are trying to use "smurf" in place of the actual word which helps a lot....but causes our daughter to get the giggles every time :lol:

Apologies for the novella- hopefully everything goes well for everybody involved, especially the kid :(

[ElphabaGalinda]

I remember when this lady was on Dr. Phil. She makes me sick. I really wish people who did things like that to children wouldn't be allowed to have any.

[Kitty]

Hot saucing would never have worked in my family. We love spicy food. Hot-saucing doesn't sound like it would be effective for very long, since you get used to it. Kids in families that eat a lot of spicy food start off small, because of just how much more sensitive a child's mouth is. My parents could have put a drop or two of Texas Pete in my tongue, I would have gotten used to it and the punishment would have been completely useless since Texas Pete is a staple in my family. But a mouthful of it? Even now that would be torture. It's one thing to smack a kid out of anger, which is what spanking actually is. It's another to scream in their faces, pour hot sauce into their mouths, and then force them into a cold shower. Smacking is painful and doesn't do much, but there's just something that much more sadistic about the hot sauce and cold shower. Maybe it's that Beagley is a power-tripping cunt. Or maybe it's that those are meant to cause a LOT of pain and humiliate and break down the child. In theory spanking is supposed to achieve that, except the 'breaking down' part (assuming, of course, we're talking about traditional spanking and not the torture the Pearls preach). Spanking hurts, but it's not comparable to cold showers and a mouthful of hot sauce.

[longskirtlotsakids]

Why didn't Doctor Phil get some heat for failing to report abuse as a mandated reporter?

[Terrie]

Dr. Phil is no longer a licensed counselor, so he's not a mandated reporter. I felt a mix of anger and pity for the mom. Anger that she went this far before realizing she needed help, and pity that she got in over her head like that. I'm in total support of charging her, but I don't think she should necessarily lose her kids. Mainly, I'd sad for the kid, because if his mom had had proper support and training, it would have never come to this.

[AnnoDomini]

One of the things that really gets me was that she put the hot sauce in--BEFORE he admitted he had done wrong! When someone is put to the torture and being pressured to say something, they'll say it even if it isn't true! ESPECIALLY a little kid like that.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have no sympathy for the woman. None.

I watched that segment, and it made me bawl. I'm not a cryer, but that child was being tortured. I had to stop watching and fast forward through it.

I've been where she is - almost every mother has. It's a dark, lonely, sad place, but there are resources - especially for well-off families. There is no justifying what she did to that little boy.

As for Dr. Phil - he has no legal obligation to report it, but why the hell would his producers not call CPS the minute she put that child in that cold shower, not out of any "legal obligation" but out of a citizen's concern for that child's welfare? Makes me sick. I'm not boycott-happy, but I sure didn't watch a single episode of his show after that.

The scariest part is that it would still be going on if she hadn't gone on that show.