State Attorneys Office: No child abuse charges for Brian Blair
July 2, 2009 at 10:58 am by David Warner
What happens to you if, according to police reports, you put your teenager in a choke hold and punch your 12-year-old in the head?
If you’re Brian Blair (mug shot at right), nothin’ much but some bad publicity, apparently. Check out these reports from Fox NewsRadio, and after the break, TBO.com, in which an assistant state attorney characterizes the incident as “discipline.” UPDATE: The St. Petersburg Times goes into further detail on the case and the reasons for the charges being dropped, referring to a memo from Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters that indicates Blair “took more punches than he gave.” (That would explain his condition in the mug shot).
TAMPA, Fla., (970 WFLA) – The Hillsborough State Attorneys office said it will not file child abuse charges against former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair.
The State Attorneys Office won’t comment, but said prosecutors will not pursue the case against Blair.
Blair was arrested on Father’s Day. He was charged with hitting his two teenaged sons. There were no serious injuries.
After the break, the story from TBO.com:
TAMPA — The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office won’t prosecute Brian Blair on child abuse charges.
Blair was arrested on Father’s Day after a confrontation involving his two sons.
In a memorandum, Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters characterized the scuffle between Blair and his 17-year-old son Brett as “discipline,” given the history between the two.
When Bradley Blair, the younger son, called 911, he told dispatchers that his brother had “gone crazy,” the memo said.
Peters wrote that Brett Blair was more aggressive and hit his father more than his father hit him. Brian Blair’s injuries appeared to be defensive, she wrote.
There were inconsistencies in witness statements about who punched whom, she wrote.
Deputies initially arrested Blair on felony child abuse charges, after Brett Blair told deputies his father grabbed him, punched him in the face and put him in a choke hold, the Sheriff’s Office report said. He then grabbed younger son Bradley by the throat and punched him, the report said.
As he left jail last month, Blair called the arrest “a real, I guess, unfortunate situation. It’s a misunderstanding that could have been prevented.”
“I have over 7,000 hours mentoring children, and the last thing I’d ever do is hurt a kid,” Blair said at the time. “Sometimes, the hardest kids to mentor are your own.”
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:44 am
Brian was lucky and should get his teens under control……..
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Was it self-defense? I.e., did his children attack him, strike the first blow? If not, I’m challenged to understand how physical violence toward your teen child is ever EVER acceptable, or “discipline”.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Not a huge fan of BB, but if I would have shown the poor judgement his kids did, I would have received a red arse in exchange….. funny how different people view it these days. I would have gotten the belt and would have learned a lesson. These days, you get a belt and it is considered a beating.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Hasn’t sounded like we’re talking about a spanking, so let’s compare apples to apples. Was there a belt I haven’t heard about? Weren’t the allegations ‘punching in head’ and ‘choking’? I don’t think any reasonable person equates that to a spanking, or discipline.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
All of you should read past the headlines…
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 am
Sounds to me like this case wasn’t strong enough to warrant prosecution. Also, when you’ve got a problem teen in the house you’ve gotta do whatever’s necessary to bring him/her in line. Cops were doing their job responding to a typically frantic, and possibly overblown, 911 call. And as usual, the press did its job piling on and is now being unapologetic about making a big deal over nothing.