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Lower Merion Woman Avoids Jail After Whipping Son, 10, For Stealing $2

LOWER MERION, Pa. (CBS) - A Lower Merion woman who whipped her son twelve times with an electrical cord for stealing two dollars from her, and then failing to get him medical help, will not be going to jail after being convicted of felony aggravated assault.

Defense attorney Greg Nester argued for probation for 33-year-old Sharomine Martin, calling her a "highly educated single mom who worked hard to give her son a better life."

But in April of last year, Nester says, she made a huge mistake and overreacted when she beat her son, then 10 years old, for stealing the money.

Prosecutor Cara McMenamin argued for a state sentence and was stunned when the judge gave Martin five years' probation.

"As a prosecutor and as a mother," McMenamin told KYW Newsradio today, "I'm horrified at what he did in not really taking into full account the effect on the child.  This child will probably be in therapy for the rest of his life; he will certainly be scarred for the rest of his life."

McMenamin says the child was found wandering around a playground in Ardmore, bleeding from his injuries. The judge believes she did it out of love, albeit misguided.

The child now lives with his father.

Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060

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