Chapter 12 - THE SLAP
I was charged too.
Misdemeanor assault.
For slapping Prisca.
Some people were outraged on my behalf.
I was not.
The video showed:
I removed her from Neriah.
Lifted my daughter.
Neriah was safe.
Then I stepped forward and struck Prisca.
That was not defense.
That was anger.
The prosecutor offered diversion.
No prior record.
No significant injury.
I accepted.
Anger-management course.
Community service.
No-contact conditions already existed.
Case eligible for dismissal after completion.
My attorney could have fought harder.
I told her not to.
“What do you want Neriah to learn?” Naomi asked.
“That stopping someone from hurting her is different from punishing them afterward.”
Good.
Prisca’s child-assault case was separate.
The prosecutor charged conduct supported by evidence:
Physical assault.
Unlawful restraint of a child.
Witness-coercion-related conduct under applicable law.
Not kidnapping.
Not attempted murder.
Specific.
Living-room video showed everything.
Prisca’s defense:
She believed Neriah was inventing a story.
The prosecutor asked:
“Then why demand she say she saw nothing instead of asking what she saw?”
Silence.
Neriah did not testify live.
Her forensic interview, video, and physical findings were used where legally appropriate.
No six-year-old courtroom spectacle.
Prisca was convicted of assault and unlawful restraint.
One broader intimidation count ended in acquittal because statutory elements were not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Correct.
At sentencing she said:
“I was trying to stop a family misunderstanding.”
The judge answered:
“You were sitting on a six-year-old child.”
Prisca looked down.
Sentence:
Custodial term partly suspended.
Probation.
Child-safety treatment.
No contact with Neriah during initial period.
No future unsupervised contact unless court approved.
Age and lack of prior convictions mattered.
So did deliberate force.
Afterward Neriah asked:
“Did Grandma go jail because I told?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because of what Grandma did.”
“If I didn’t tell?”
I had to think.
“Then adults might not have known.”
She squeezed the stuffed puppy.
“So telling helped?”
May you like
“Yes.”
That mattered more than Prisca’s sentence.
