The Official Scott Roberts Web Site

This is a difficult and touchy subject ... I try never to judge parenting approaches, no parenting in general - within reason. As a mother for 20 years with 3 kids, I found this repulsive, disturbing, and I'd love to pour that damn bottle down her throat - reminding her not to spit it out!!! Big big difference in feeding your children spicy/hot food or salsa (if they like it!) - screw you Mr. Lawyer, no comparison! - than making them hold hot sauce in their mouth, muchless swallow it. Cold showers ... that's just plain abuse in my opinion. I know how to crack a whip when it's "necessary", I would never entertain this as "parenting", and I hope she learns her lesson. Sorry if this is less than delicate ... this is over the top! Thanks for posting Scott, and hoping you update.

This IS child abuse through and through. There is no debate.>:-(

Cruel and spiteful woman, this is plain child abuse.!

I disagree that this is a touchy subject IMHO. This is just plain stupid and abusive behavior. All parenting must be judged in light of both the short and long term outcome. Perhaps in the short term, the child become so frightened that the behavior ceased but what are the long term implications? The child should be removed and the parent jailed for a very long time.

Okay, here's MY take on this...I wouldn't do something like this to my own sons, but it sure as hell ain't child abuse. 1) Hot sauce (and anything containing chile peppers) is food. What the unlearned think is torture, others use for lunch. Plus, the woman gave her adopted son some Tapatio Sauce. It's a VERY mild, vinegar-based sauce. 2) Chile peppers found in hot sauce are actually GOOD for you. Chile peppers do have high levels of vitamin C when green and vitamin A when red. Since they have no cholesterol, very low fat and calories, and high fibre, they are good for you. Applied topically, they are anti-oxidants and have been shown to kill some types of bacteria. 3) Look at the facts presented by Butch and others. Medically, capsaicin does not cause any damage to skin, tongue, mouth, throat, esophagus, or stomach (yes, capsaicin does NOT cause ulcers, heartburn or any GERD), except for those with the rare skin disorder dermatitis. In the vast majority of the populace, hot sauce or chiles do NO damage whatsoever. Capsaicin in chiles is a rubefacient, an agent that brings blood to the surface of the skin, giving a small degree of warmth because of increased circulation, so it feels like it's "burning", but it really DOES NOT do any physical burning. 4) Hot sauce only causes discomfort. I personally can't stand any sour foods. So for someone like me, does giving me sour candy constitute torture?

The cold showers, the debate on spanking, etc. is a different story. I think every child is different, and differing punishments are sometimes needed. What may work for some children may not necessarily work for others. Plus, it sounded like the child in the video was a little juvenile delinquent. And who knows the entire history of his behavior and the types of discipline the mother tried out on him? For those of you without kids, some children can be a downright struggle. If a little spanking, hot sauce or soap in the mouth works where "time-outs" didn't, then let parents be parents and mind your own business.

Please. Tapatio? I thought they said 'hot sauce' :-) Like many others have stated elsewhere, it sure beats the bar of soap. I got it ONE(!) time for bad mouthing an adult. I learned my lesson and it wasn't 'abuse begets abuse'. It was more like 'you CAN talk that way, but there WILL be consequences' :-)

This is despicable behavior by a parent and the intent was not just to punish, but to do so in a harmful way. Further, it demonstrates the woman's inability to set a good example for her child. Just because it is food does not make it acceptable. What if she forced the child to eat a half dozen raw eggs? I believe that parents being held accountable for their punishments depends on the intent and degree. A swat on the butt is not the same as a strap across a bare butt. There is a matter of degree to get the child's attention and of course this is what differentiates between punishing a child and abusing a child.. And even the mildest hot sauce can be outrageously hot for a child (and many adults).
She could have and should have handled her child differently considering his age.

Aztec Emporer,

How does a real health threat like eating raw eggs (and possibly getting Salmonella) compare to something that only causes minor discomfort such as getting several drops of Tapatio in your mouth?

OMG !!! You people are absolutely ridiculous. I strongly disagree with this woman being prosecuted. You are acting like she beat the hell out of him (most abusive parents do).. what she did was nto abusive. I know some children who like to use hot sauce ( I was one) so should my mom have been jailed. And a cold shower??? Does this kid cry when he runs through a sprinkler that water is colder if ya ask me. We need to discipline our children n order for them to learn right from wrong. Take away his dessert...LMAO what a joke.. Everyday you read in the paper about children running wild stealing cars, flash mobs, beating people, setting fires, KILLING . I bet tthey would have benefited from some good old fashion discipline. Whateva happened to "Spare the rod , spoil the child ". America needs to stop focusing on minor things like this and get hold of some real child abusers & the economy. WAKE UP PEOPLE !!! This is not that deep !!!

We don't know what the whole story is, this could have been the last straw, tried everything else and nothing had worked. You can't judge until you have been in her shoes. We are way too easy on kids today.

I want to know if she had made him eat brussel sprouts if everyone would be having a fit? Or because it's hot sauce is why it's SO bad? Give me a break.

Food is food. What does it matter what type of food? You say hot sauce, I just threw out eggs, could have been sardines, head cheese, crisco oil, whatever the disgusting food by itself. The point is that she put hot sauce in a 7 year old child's mouth then made him stand in a cold shower-that is just mean. I have no problem with disciplining a child, but this is just cruel. Finally, the child is adopted and it is my guess that she would have treated her own/a birth child differently, not an uncommon occurrence.
By the way, the facts of the case must have been a little more extreme because a jury convicted her of misdemeanor child abuse. she took it to curt, received a jury trial and a group of people all agreed beyond a reasonable doubt that she was guilty of being cruel for the entirety of the punishment. further, she brought it upon herself trying to exploit herself on the Dr. Phil show. This is a sad situation for the child.
I would never put hot sauce in someone's mouth (especially a child) to punish them...except for idiot chileheads who deserve to pay the price for wanting to eat extract heat with no flavor :)

You know, at first when I saw the video I was annoyed at the parents behaviour...then for a split second I thought well it is only hot sauce and cold water....I lost my mind for a little while there!

If an adult cannot communicate with a child, if someone with many many years of life experience cannot talk to a child, someone who has very little then there's something wrong. And if that something wrong happens to be an issue with the child not responding to the parent then I think there would be far better routes to take than punishing a child that way. There's a lot of professional advice and help out there. Maybe she should have saught this?

It crossed my mind that I could not get away with treating another adult this way so why should an adult be able to treat a CHILD like this?! If I went home and forced hot sauce into my wifes mouth (she doesn't like spicy food) and then ordered her to strip and then forced her into a cold shower I'd be expecting a call from the police at some point!

This is no more abusive that a parent washing their child's mouth out with soap. At least hot sauce is edible. And like stated above, it wasn't even "hot" sauce.

By the way, my sister just informed me that her daughter used to eat Jalapeno poppers when she was only 1 or 2 years old. I guess some people would consider that abusive too then?

It's not abuse if she likes it and enjoys the food.

However if it's unpleasant to the person (as spicy food is to a lot of people) forcing it upon someone is a different thing entirely to enjoying a tasty snack!

I agree with Scott, Michelle, Ronnie and Frustrated.
Some kids just run amock and normal "telling off" or sending you to time out doesn't always work and the same punishment over and over just stops working over time.
Ross she was trying to seek help and went on Dr Phil to find out what she could do. Then she gets punished for seeking the help...
Oh and Aztec - since when sre punishments for bad behaviour meant to be "nice"? That is why they call it a punishment.
At least she didnt use an extract sauce, i would consider that more like abuse than a weak off the shelf sauce.

There are people out there that beat their children and I heard of one on Dr Phil that locked their son in a tiny cupboard, naked surrounded by barbed wire with no food or drink for days at a time, burnt with cigarettes and was forced to go to the toilet in there - that is ABUSE! This is the stuff that lasts not a bit of sauce in your mouth that goes away in a minute or a little bit of cold.

This woman is beyond cruel. she needs to be put under the jail and away from kids for good. she's an animal. i cannot imagine the agony that poor kid went through. she's a sick, sick animal.