It’s good for kids to learn to say “May I please,” but not if it involves slapping them in the face.
That was the teaching method allegedly utilized by Kenneth Webb on his 3-year-old son, according to investigators in Middletown, Ind.
Webb, 29, was charged Monday with neglect of a dependent, and battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under the age of 14, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Webb allegedly told investigators with the Henry County sheriff’s department that he had slapped the boy “more than once” because the youngster “wouldn’t look him in the eye as he talked” during a conversation about “sentence structure.”
The suspect allegedly said he was trying to instill the importance of beginning questions with “May I please…”
Twenty minutes after the misguided “teachable moment,” Webb’s mother came home and noticed the slap marks on the boy’s face.
She asked her son what happened and he admitted hitting the boy, but didn’t realize that he hit him that hard, WISH-TV reported.
The boy was treated at an area hospital and then released to the custody of his grandparents, RawStory reported.
If convicted, Webb could spend at least 18 months behind bars.
