A mother shopping in a USA supermarket was shocked to see a stranger slap her young daughter across the face after apparently losing his patience with the child's crying.
Roger Stephens, a 61 year old resident of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has recently been charged with felony cruelty to children after slapping the 2 year old girl while doing his grocery shopping.
The mother was reportedly approached by Stephens and told "If you don't shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you."
When the child continued to cry, he picked her up and slapped her at least 4 times across the face, telling the mother "See, I told you I would shut her up."
Other customers of the supermarket had to hold Stephens back and restrain him until the police arrived to arrest him.
The child was taken to the Police station for an examination, which showed the girl's face was slightly red, but luckily otherwise unharmed. Slapping a young child across the face can cause lasting damage, but presumably Stephen didn't consider this.
Stephen was a complete stranger to the girl and her mother, and appears to have just lost his patience. Slapping the child is an incredibly extreme reaction to this irritation though, and it is unclear whether this is the first time Stephens has committed such a crime.
The girl's aunt has confirmed that the little girl was upset at the time of the slapping, but has now largely forgotten about it. The mother however is trying to stay calm after what is understandably a traumatic event.
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