A man who beat up his daughter with plastic hangers, causing extensive bruising on her back and legs, was sentenced in Superior Court yesterday to nine days in prison.
Associate Judge Perry B. Inos sentenced Chupwei Toier Willy to six years in prison, all suspended except for nine days, for assault and battery and child abuse, with credit for the six days he had already served in jail.
Willy will be placed on five years of supervised probation.
The judge directed the Office of Adult Probation to conduct random home visits at Willy's place.
The Office of the Attorney General had charged Willy in June 2009 with one count of assault and battery, and one count of child abuse.
The victim is the defendant's then 10-year-old daughter.
The case arose after school authorities noticed bruising on the girl's back and legs. The school promptly contacted the Division Of Youth Services and an investigation was initiated.
Photographs were taken of the girl's injuries and she was brought to the Commonwealth Health Center for a medical examination.
The girl testified that Willy used his hands and plastic hanger to hit her. At least one plastic hanger broke. Instead of stopping, though, Willy took another plastic hanger and continued hitting the girl.
The defendant's wife testified that the beating lasted between three to five minutes.
Willy, a Chuukese, argued that this type of beating is common in Chuuk and that he was merely conforming to Chuukese standards.
Inos noted, however, that the victim's uncle, who is also from Chuuk, removed the child from Willy's house after the incident.
“It is not clear from the testimony whether such a degree of corporal punishment is reasonable in Chuuk,” Inos said.
Nevertheless, the judge said, the proper standard is that which prevails in Saipan.
“Even through Saipan is a diverse community, the severity of the injuries as depicted in the photographs at trial are clearly beyond the community standards of the CNMI for reasonable parental discipline,” Inos said.
The bench trial ended on Oct. 19, 2010, with a finding of guilt against Willy.
