DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Jurors deliberated for hours before finding a DeKalb County man guilty in a trial about spanking.
Prosecutors said James Freeman crossed the line when he hit a toddler who wandered into his garden.
"I saw Mr. Freeman with him, hoisted off the ground, hitting him with a belt," said the boy's father, Keyo Bonner, as he testified in Friday's trial.
Bonner said he was outraged after a man, who his 2-year-old son didn't know, spanked him.
"He's crying; I'm holding him in my arms, trying to calm him down," said Bonner
The incident happened back in October.
Bonner said he went to James Freeman's home to get his car serviced by a friend who lives there.
Bonner's son was playing in the yard, but quickly made his way into Freeman's garden.
"He had the mash in the hand, pulling it, pulling it over," said Freeman as he told the court about how the boy beat up his plants and ripped out the protective fencing.
Freeman told the toddler to stop; he didn't, so he hit him.
"I just pulled my belt off, held him out by his arm, hit him bout two licks," said Freeman.
Bonner had a much different story. "He whipped him over and over and over again," said Bonner.
The prosecution described the spanking as violent, especially for a child who'd never been hit.
The defense argued the child wasn't injured, had no visible marks and that Freeman was just protecting his property.
In the end, the jury found Freeman guilty of one count of simple battery.
Freeman will be sentenced on April 19.
The solicitor general said this verdict should serve as a clear message: disciplining a stranger's child is criminal.
WSBTV
