Mom Attacks Daughter During School Visit

[Onthemark]

A 36-year-old Staten Island mother is accused of using a leather belt to whip her 12-year-old daughter and then choked, punched and slapped her during a meeting at her school.

Bintu Fofanah was arrested Wednesday after a meeting with her child and staff at the John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, said Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police.

The incident unfolded after Fofanah went to the school for a meeting. The mother began arguing with her daughter and the situation escalated to the point where Fofanah assaulted her daughter, causing bruises and a cut in her mouth, Pentangelo said.

Police were called to the scene and found bruises and welts on the girl. She was transported by ambulance to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton for evaluation and treatment.

After further investigation, authorities learned that the girl sustained earlier injuries, allegedly by the suspect.

Fofanah was charged with strangulation, assault and reckless endangerment of a child.

Police notified the city's Administration for Children's Services about the incident.

 

[missbishi]

This is terrible.That poor girl. I hope she is placed with a guardian now as her mother is clearly unfit. She deserves to go down for this, she really does.

 

[Kamarsun1]

This is terrible.That poor girl. I hope she is placed with a guardian now as her mother is clearly unfit. She deserves to go down for this, she really does.

That is just not the right way to discipline a child. We have really lost touch with the youth, and as a parent it's not easy, but we have to find a better way.

 

[Muthoni]

This is one angry woman who has the audacity to whip her daughter in public. It is scaring to think about what goes on when they are home alone. Some people are not prepared to handle the responsibilities that come with having children. I hope that her daughter gets a loving home away from her.

 

[Sweetheart]

Amazing how some people come up with this. Like it will work for discipline. The choking and all of this, thats over the top. I was hit with a belt as a child. It was traumatizing. Probably my parents had the desire to choke us when we small kids. I don't agree with any of this and I certainly have no desire to do it just because it was done to me. I'm going to bet this woman was beat to a pulp when she was child. Some people never rise above.

 

[Gelsemium]

Wow, if she is doing this in public I can't even imagine how is the life of the daughter in private, I am glad she got caught!

 

[warmweatherwoman]

Oh PLEASE....parents and children have gotten too soft on discipline in my opinion...she didn't kill the girl..and I bet you whatever she did warranted a good a$$ whopping...This is what is wrong with the world today...parents can't discipline their own children as they see fit...better discipline now then jail later!

 

[Onionman]

The mother clearly lost the plot because why else would you do something so clearly wrong in such a public place. I'm not a fan of the use of the belt and it certainly shouldn't be used in public. That's a criminal act in itself.

 

[caparica007]

I guess it's just the way she usually acts Onionman and doing it in public just shows she is out of control. Now that everyone has seen that, will anything change?

 

[Kittyworker]

What a real shame. Parents should try to set an example to their children so that if the child grows up and has kids of their own they have some past experience at least observing how their own parents handled situations. You don't really get that in foster homes. I really wouldn't be surprised if the child is back home with the mother in a couple months as CPS is always overcrowded.

 

[oraclemay]

It seems there are more child abusers around than mothers and they come disguised as mothers. I utterly despair for the children of this world as they are being hurt and wiped out by these monsters.

 

[jeremy2]

I guess she went a little overboard in disciplining her daughter.As a mother,she has the right to discipline her but there's a limit on that.Serious bodily harm should never be tolerated.

 

[Gabe]

I hope the child is taken away from her, because choking someone is not like giving them a slap, that's deliberate harm to cause more than an injury, in as far as saying attempting to murder someone. I'm glad the school did intervene and the mother should lose any rights. The worst thing is the child must have been enduring it for so long, and maybe can now get help.

 

[mairj23]

This woman clearly has anger and mental issues to do something like that and it was in public. How stupid could she be? Yes, pressing charges should be done here and let the chips fall where they may.