Boy reveals parental abuse via Facebook
Police arrest parents of 14-year-old who wrote on Police Facebook page that his parents abuse him; parents say they beat son 'in order to educate him'
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This post, published Friday night by a 14-year-old-boy from Haifa on the police's Facebook page, raised suspicions of harsh abuse and led to a police investigation and the subsequent arrest of the child's parents.
In the post, and in later questioning, the boy said that his parents had been abusing him because he was "short and fat." He told investigators that he had tried to commit suicide two years ago, in the wake of the violence.
The boy added in the Facebook post that he was afraid to contact the school counselor or the police, "because they think I am a shame to my family. My parents always think that I'm not a good enough child for them. I am short and fat, and whenever I forget these things, they make sure to remind me how much I am like that."
Following the post, the head of the police media department, Superintendent Sharon Yamineh, contacted the boy, spoke to him on the web and managed to get additional details.
Haifa Police Chief Commander Avi Edri said a patrol officer was sent to the house and after speaking with the boy, both of his parents were arrested.
They were questioned separately, so that they could not coordinate testimonies.
In questioning, the parents admitted that they beat their son "in order to educate him," but nonetheless denied that they had abused him excessively.
"The father explicitly stated that he hit the boy to prevent him from deteriorating into the criminal world," said Haifa Police Commander Avi Edri, "and the mother backed him up."
The investigating officer at the station, Superintendent Rami Khouri, said however that though they confirmed that they beat their son, the parents denied the extreme violence, including beatings with a belt and a stick.
The boy was also questioned at the Haifa police station, and described prolonged abuse which according to him, included beatings with a belt and a broom handle, and verbal abuse, along with the physical violence. Police said the boy feared the investigation because he did not want to cause harm to his parents.
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