RECORD IMPOUNDED

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4843-15T2

NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF

CHILD PROTECTION AND 

PERMANENCY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

L.S.,

Defendant-Appellant,

and 

R.S.,1

Defendant.

_____________________________________

IN THE MATTER OF L.S.,

Minor.

_____________________________________

Submitted September 26, 2017 – Decided

Before Judges Fasciale and Sumners.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, 

Chancery Division, Family Part, Hudson County, 

Docket No. FN-09-0431-15.

 

1 R.S., the father of the minor child L.S., was only a defendant 

for purposes of service. 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." 

Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the 

parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

November 1, 2017
2 A-4843-15T2

Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney 

for appellant (John A. Albright, Designated 

Counsel, on the brief).

Christopher S. Porrino, Attorney General,

attorney for respondent (Andrea M. Silkowitz, 

Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; 

Jonathan Villa, Deputy Attorney General, on 

the brief).

Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, Law 

Guardian, attorney for minor (Cory H. Cassar, 

Designated Counsel, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant appeals from a December 1, 2015 fact finding order

entered by Judge Bernadette N. DeCastro that defendant abused and 

neglected her daughter L.S. (the child), born August 2012, by 

inflicting excessive corporal punishment in disciplining the 

child.

2 Defendant argues that her conduct did not constitute 

excessive corporal punishment because her momentary lapse of 

judgment did not result in actual physical injury or imminent harm 

to her child. She also contends that absent testimony from any 

witness with knowledge of the child's medical conditions, the 

judge should not have taken judicial notice that the child's 

medical disorders might have rendered her more fragile than the 

average child. We find insufficient merit in these arguments to 

warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E). We 

 

2 A June 3, 2016 order terminated litigation, making this case 

ripe for appeal.
3 A-4843-15T2

affirm substantially for the reasons stated by Judge DeCastro in 

her thorough, well-reasoned written opinion issued at the close 

of the fact finding hearing on the same date. We add the following.

The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (Division)

presented the testimony of Bayonne police officer Nick Lawson and 

its caseworker Sharice Kennedy. Lawson stated he was on patrol 

in Bayonne Park when he heard a woman yelling and screaming at a 

child in a stroller. He then observed the woman, later identified 

as defendant, smack the child on her "lower torso, upper thigh 

area," with a white rag and then with an open hand. Defendant 

then picked the child up from her stroller and threw her to the 

ground, where she landed on her back. Lawson demonstrated to the 

judge the amount of force defendant used to discipline the child.

According to Lawson, after confronting defendant, she apologized 

to him for throwing her child to the ground. He also recalled 

defendant telling her child, "you see you got your way." He also 

mentioned that an examination by an EMT revealed the child was not 

hurt.

Kennedy testified the incident was reported to the Division, 

and she met with defendant the day of the incident. Kennedy stated 

defendant justified her actions by claiming she was disciplining

her child because she had a temper tantrum and kept falling out 

of her stroller and onto the ground. Defendant also told the 
4 A-4843-15T2

caseworker she did not strike or throw her child to the ground, 

but that her child was not giving her "any slack" and "this is 

what her [child] wanted [her] to do."

Kennedy also met with the child, describing her as happy and 

somewhat nonverbal. The child did not have any visible marks and 

bruises on her body but had a small mark on her forehead. Based 

upon her conversation with defendant and a review of the child's 

pediatrician records, Kennedy revealed that since the child's 

premature birth, she has had ventricular issues and a shunt placed 

in her head and a tube that runs from her head to her stomach, 

which drains fluid from her brain.

Defendant did not testify or present any evidence at the fact 

finding hearing.

In her written decision, Judge DeCastro recognized that our 

court concluded in Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. K.A., 413 N.J. 

Super. 504, 511 (App. Div. 2010), appeal dismissed as improvidently 

granted, 208 N.J. 355 (2011), that abuse and neglect of a child

through excessive corporal punishment is not defined in N.J.S.A.

9:6-8.21(c). Guided by her review of several decisions involving 

allegations of excessive corporal punishment, including but not 

limited to, K.A., N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. P.W.R.,

205 N.J. 17, 36 (2011), and N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. 

S.H., 439 N.J. Super. 137, 145 (App. Div. 2015), certif. denied, 
5 A-4843-15T2

222 N.J. 16 (2015), she found that defendant's treatment of her 

child constituted abuse and neglect. The judge determined:

Here[,] the underlying circumstances of a 

[two-and-a-half] year old non-verbal child 

having a tantrum described by crying and 

possibly dragging her feet did not justify the 

mother['s] reaction of grabbing the [two-anda-half] year old child out of her stroller and 

forcefully throwing her feet to the ground. 

The fact that she was not seriously injured 

is fortunate in light of the fact that [she] 

has cardiac issues and a shunt that goes from 

her head to her stomach. Clearly, the 

Division proved by preponderance of the 

evidence that defendant's actions constituted 

willful or wanton negligence and showed that 

she acted with reckless disregard for the 

safety of her daughter.

Based upon our review of the record, we conclude that Judge 

DeCastro's decision is supported by substantial credible evidence,

N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. F.M., 211 N.J. 420, 448-49 

(2012), and is consistent with the law cited in her decision. See

N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. A.R., 419 N.J. Super. 538, 

542-43 (App. Div. 2011). Although the child was not injured, 

defendant's conduct constitutes excessive corporal punishment 

because it placed the child in significant risk of harm, especially 

given her significant medical problems.

Affirmed.