Woman On Trial for Using Hot Sauce to Discipline Young Son
12:00 PM PDT, August 22, 2011 - Inside Edition
She's the mother on trial for using hot sauce to discipline her 7-year-old son.
36-year-old Jessica Beagley was arrested after home video of her pouring hot sauce into her little boy's mouth was broadcast on Dr. Phil.
She forced the boy to swish the hot sauce around in his mouth as punishment for getting in trouble in school and lying to her about it. But she wasn't done.
After the hot sauce, the little boy got a freezing cold shower!
Police in Alaska charged Beagley with child abuse after seeing the video.
"You have crippled this child mentally, emotionally, and socially," Dr. Phil told her.
The case sparked widespread anger and a heated debate on using hot sauce to discipline children.
Joy Behar weighed in, saying, "It's not the hot sauce only, it's the terror that you remember when you grow up, you remember the terror, the fact that you're so afraid of your own mother."
Lisa Whelchel, the actress who played Blair on The Facts of Life, defended the practice in her book Creative Correction. She spoke to Good Morning America in 2004.
"I just happen to believe that I would rather my child receive a small amount of pain from my hand, of love, than to encounter a lot more pain in life not learning boundaries and consequences," Whelchel said.
"I find this to be inhumane. I think it's poor parenting. This child is not only being punished but he's being hurt physically…it is quite obvious that this child is scared to death," clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere told INSIDE EDITION.
Beagley's attorney says using hot sauce is no more cruel than giving your child spicy food for dinner.
Beagley has decided not to take the stand, but an official from Child Protective Services testified that they found no evidence of child abuse in her home.
If convicted, Beagley faces up to a year in prison.
A verdict in the case is expected soon.