On September 29 Larry and Carri Williams of Washington were charged with homicide by abuse after their 13-year-old daughter Hana was found naked and face down in their backyard, dead from hypothermia and malnutrition. The Williamses already had six children they were home-schooling when they adopted Hana and a 7-year-old boy from Ethiopia in 2008. They were fans of To Train Up A Child and on the day of Hana's death she was beaten with the plumbing tube, which Pearl says is good to use on a child because it's "too light to cause damage to the muscle or the bone." Other abuse police describe seems to be an intensified version of the methods in the book. Pearl says "a little fasting is good training," and Hana was starved for days. Pearl advocates hosing off a child if they have an accident after potty-training. Hana was forced to shower outside with a hose and sleep in a frigid barn or closet.
Some conservative Christian parents groups are pressuring sites like Amazon to stop selling the book, and Pearl says his methods aren't for everyone. He tells parents they shouldn't hit children in anger or leave a bruise, and says if parents are ignoring that important bit of information it isn't his fault. "If you find a 12-step book in an alcoholic's house, you wouldn't blame the book," Pearl explains. Though, the equivalent to a 12-step book in Hana's situation would actually be a book on "time outs" that the parents chose to ignore. The discovery of To Train Up A Child in the Williamses home is more like finding pro-ana websites bookmarked on an anorexic girl's computer. The websites may not be the source of the problem, but both the sites and the Pearls' book provide a guide to unhealthy and dangerous behavior and have led to children's deaths.
Preaching Virtue of Spanking, Even as Deaths Fuel Debate [NYT]
Earlier: Another Child "Chastised" To Death
Image via Jouke van Keulen/Shutterstock.
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Though Victoria Beckham's eyes seem to tell Eva Longoria to get her child-hungry mitts off her four-month-old daughter Harper, shockingly, that's probably not the case. However, seeing how women of a certain stature can't scoff down a burrito lunch without accusations of secret pregnancies we're going to play along for Friday fun. "Eva was convinced she'd fall pregnant last summer and even told Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry that she was trying," says a source from two years ago about her attempts with the husband who cheated on her. Poor desperate Eva! But, seriously you guys, you know how crazy and hormonal women get ? Victoria had better put a microchip in that thing. [Daily Mail]
Stephanie Meyer has driven a stake into the hearts (I know, forgive me) of obsessive Twilight fans everywhere by saying that Bella and Edward are over. "There was a time when I thought I would never stop writing about vampires," she says of her Barbara Cartland dreams. "Right now, I really don't have much drive towards vampires ? Sometimes you just want to get into a new world." [E!]
Mourning the temporary loss of her bizarre popularity, Kim Kardashian wears all black as she leaves Australia. [Radar]
Tegan and Sara are set to release a live DVD/CD release of their Sainthood tour as they prepare to record their seventh studio album ? they're like the Parker Poseys of music in terms of output. This trailer for the 30-minute documentary they filmed is pretty neat. [Billboard]
Transgender actress Jamie Clayton says that between scoring a two-episode arc on Hung and Chaz Bono's recent Dancing With The Stars stint things are looking up for trans visibility. "I think we're moving in a really positive direction and getting exposure," she says. "With him being on Dancing With the Stars and then with me on Hung, I think that it's all really good the more people see us ? Hopefully, people will just become sort of numb to the fact that we have this past." Amen sister! [E!]
Mississippi's jaw droppingly absurd Personhood Amendment is drumming up a lot of press, but theirs isn't the only kooky pro-life law poised to pass this fall; Ohio's got a bit of overreaching anti-choice legislation of its own: a fetal heartbeat bill. And supporters are about to to take to the TV airwaves to urge politicians to pass the damn thing, for the children and such. Ohioans, I hope you're ready to get the shit annoyed out of you.
