# Ohio dad gets jail for mocking girl with cerebral palsy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405 "2012-11-28T21:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/1 "2012-11-28T21:19:36Z")
I thought we had discussed this at the time it happened, but I couldn’t find anything. > **[Ohio dad gets jail for mocking girl with cerebral palsy](https://www.foxnews.com/us/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy)** > > A northeast Ohio man accused of making fun of a young girl with cerebral palsy has been sentenced to a month in jail. Anyway, what an enormous douchenozzle. Who the hell makes fun of a handicapped child? And then lies about it? If dad decides to take a baseball bat to this guy’s knee when he gets out, no way \*\*my \*\*jury convicts him. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/2 "2012-11-28T21:33:15Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > If dad decides to take a baseball bat to this guy’s knee when he gets out, no way \*\*my \*\*jury convicts him. Ok, well that part is a little over the top. He didn’t physically assault the girl. And in his defense, he’s a fucking moron. Really, he’s going to get a lot of it back in jail when even the litterers move away from him on the bench because he’s there for mocking a little crippled girl. But it won’t make an impression on him, he’ll be done in a month and come out an even bigger asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Saraya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Saraya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saraya)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/3 "2012-11-28T21:36:36Z")
So as I understood it they still don’t know if he was ACTUALLY making fun of her? And since when is that a crime? I could understand something like this happening in England (every day someone goes to jail for a ‘racist’ comment on a footballer’s Twitter page, or making suggestive gestures at a match), but in the States? Yikes…don’t ever imitate a gangster walk around children, one of them might have palsy… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/4 "2012-11-28T21:41:45Z")
> [@Saraya](#): > > And since when is that a crime? It is a stretch, but like the board, life has “don’t be a jerk” rules also. Nobody will be on your side if you mock a little crippled girl. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/5 "2012-11-28T21:46:04Z")
I’m with \*\*Saraya \*\*on this one. So the guy may or may not be a dick of the highest order, but that isn’t against the law. Fuck, if making fun of the handicapped was a crime, the editors _National Lampoon_ and _Hustler_ would have all been in prison since the early 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/6 "2012-11-28T21:47:47Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/7 "2012-11-29T00:19:46Z")
Jail for maybe making fun of a handicapped person? That’s lame. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/8 "2012-11-29T00:35:28Z")
No excuse for a grown man to act like that. I’m glad he’s going to jail. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/9 "2012-11-29T00:37:47Z")
This guy is a complete asshole but since when do we jail people for being assholes? He’s a dick and deserves public shunning, but jail? No. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/10 "2012-11-29T00:56:17Z")
They used a menacing charge against him. A grown man following and mocking a young girl could qualify for that. Even if not, I have no problem with this particular miscarriage of justice. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/11 "2012-11-29T01:04:27Z")
Sounds over-the-top to me. We’d see better results from 100 hours of community service working with the handicapped, and being forced to apologize to her in front of his friends and both their families. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/12 "2012-11-29T01:41:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … like the board, life has “don’t be a jerk” rules also. We’re in a lot of trouble if a month in jail is the punishment for the “crime” of being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/13 "2012-11-29T01:51:21Z")
It’s bullshit that he got jail time for this. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/14 "2012-11-29T02:04:58Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m with \*\*Saraya \*\*on this one. > > So the guy may or may not be a dick of the highest order, but that isn’t against the law. Fuck, if making fun of the handicapped was a crime, the editors _National Lampoon_ and _Hustler_ would have all been in prison since the early 70’s. Except that the guy agreed that he was guilty of criminal conduct. He stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then he agreed that the state could prove him guilty, and that he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/15 "2012-11-29T02:09:51Z")
The news report did say that he’d been doing this for some time, repeatedly. That’s why the grandmother took the video. **However** , I don’t think it was menacing unless he was stalking the kid. If that was the case, the family should’ve gotten a restraining order before I consider jail appropriate. StG ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/16 "2012-11-29T02:12:13Z")
From what I’ve read on another site, he did face a misdemeanor charge for mocking the girl, but the jail time is for threatening to choke the girl’s mother with a chain. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/17 "2012-11-29T02:14:33Z")
Was this disturbing and inappropriate? Yes. Does it deserve jail? I don’t think so. There’s this thing called freedom of speech that we are supposed to hold in such high regard. We let people have KKK and Neo-Nazi marches and spew hateful propaganda of all sorts because we know that if we start banning them, sooner or later something we want to say will be banned and we’ll be living in a totalitarian country. If you want to live in America you’re supposed to suck it up and tolerate what people say - it’s not hurting you. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/18 "2012-11-29T02:14:50Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > We’re in a lot of trouble if a month in jail is the punishment for the “crime” of being a jerk. This is a pretty tough level of jerkiness to achieve. This guy won’t learn anything from this experience, the deterrent effect is needed here. I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. ---
**Author:** ![Atakapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Atakapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atakapa)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/19 "2012-11-29T02:36:18Z")
First they came for George Carlin, and I said nothing because I wasn’t George Carlin. Then they came for Louis CK, and I said nothing because I wasn’t Louis CK… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/20 "2012-11-29T02:42:57Z")
The defendant should have said “in recognition of Frank Fontaine and Jerry Lewis, I was observing National Make Fun of the Handicapped Week.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405.md?page=2)