Quote Originally Posted by hoosier View Post
Neither fish nor fowl.

The report said the police report said there was bruising around the eye. You don't get that from a slap. The distinction between what is legally permissible (discipline) and what is assault usually rests on whether or not the force leaves a lasting mark (such as bruising), whether or not the action could be reasonably construed as intended to give a lesson (so hitting a child in anger would count as abuse), and whether or not the person inflicting the pain is in control. It sounds like Ahman fell on the wrong side of the law on at least two and probably all three of those criteria. The child is a teenager. I wonder how long this pattern has been going on.....
I have seen people bruise from less than a slap. You can't generalize what causes a bruise without knowing the individual.