Charges: Mother Beat Daughter With A Belt For Texting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – An Apple Valley woman is accused of maliciously punishing her 13-year-old daughter after she allegedly struck the girl repeatedly with a belt for texting and not charging her cell phone.
Renita Michelle Moss, 43, has been charged with one count of malicious punishment of a child.
According to the Dakota County Child Protection, the girl said Moss confronted her on the morning of April 28, accusing her of not charging the cell phone.
The girl said her mother became upset that she had not charged the phone and that she was running late that morning.
According to police, the girl said her mom then retrieved a black leather belt and began hitting her with it, causing multiple welts and bruises.
The child said Moss struck her roughly 20 times while saying that the child should not disrespect her.
Police said the girl claimed that Moss then slammed her head against a door three times, causing her to get a headache.
Police spoke with the girl's seven-year-old brother who witnessed the incident.
He told police that the girl did get "whipped" by Moss, but he said it was because she had been caught texting in the evening and hiding the phone from the mom.
Police then spoke with Moss, who admitted to hitting the girl with the leather belt.
Moss told police she became angry with the girl when she lied to Moss about texting after 8:30 p.m.
According to police, the girl was not allowed to text after 8:30 p.m. Moss found texts that were sent by the girl after 8:30 p.m. and when she asked the girl about them the girl denied sending them.
Moss said she hit the girl with the leather belt as discipline, but denied hitting the girl's head against the door.
If found guilty Moss faces up to one year in prison, up to $3,000 in fines or both.
