Stepfather Accused of Child Abuse!

To contact us Click HERE
Anthony Sanchez is a step father accused of belt whipping his young stepson, Zach for failing to catch the ball he was throwing to him. The act was taped by a neighbor, Oscar Lopez, who put the video on YouTube and also turned it into the Imperial County Sherriff’s Department. Anthony is now charged with felony child abuse that can earn him 6 years in state prison and he is cooperating with the police. Some say he was just disciplining mouthy Zach who also has ADHD. The mother isn't in the video, so she didn't witness the incident.

Terry Grammer, the boy’s grandfather/stepfather’s father in law was on TV to defend his son in law, Anthony’s actions. He says that Zach was not injured, had no bruises or marks as a result of the spankings, except for one little mark he said he incurred prior to the whipping and that he is afraid he will be removed from his home. 
He said he loves Zach with his heart and what happened was that Zach had a bad day of “episodes,” which included mouthing off to Anthony. He said Zach told him, “I was saying some real mean things.” There's no audio with the video, so unless the Sherriff’s Department gets a lip reader, they won't know what was said. Terry also said, “I have seen that behavior,” refering to his grandson's tantrums. However, he also shared that Anthony displayed excessive spanking, but it is difficult for him trying to be a step father to a child that has behavioral issues. He said Zach and his daughter are going through behavioral counseling where the time out, and removing things and privileges prescribed hadn’t worked. However, spanking as a form of disciple has worked and checked his behavior.

It is being said Mr. Sanchez is being treated harshly because of his position because such an act should have fetched misdemeanor charges instead of the felony charges he is being charged with.
I must say the video is very difficult to watch and I’ve never been one to like blended families and their step parent and step children living together situations. There’s just something about not being one’s biological parent or child. I know each situation is unique, but there’s just too much out there that I’ve heard and seen so much “drama” with all these so called “blended” families from both sides, that if possible one should totally avoid it. The chances of a blended family lasting is much less than a nuclear family in this USA where the divorce rate is already very high, so it's best to avoid them to increase one's chances of marital success.

Spanking is not against the law in the state they live in and the circumstances under which the spanking occurred will come out during the judicial process. However, my question is what if that was his biological child with the same blood flowing through his viens, would he have had the heart to do the same thing? I don't know but I have seen and heard step parents say they treat their biological children better than their stepchildren, while some don’t. Either way, I guess we’ll never know and we’ll see how this plays out in the system. But I want to share with anyone out there, that as far it’s up to you, do all within your power to focus on creating a nuclear family and be wary of creating blended families because I've heard or seen it all from stepfathers and mother's boyfriends abusing or raping their stepchildren or girlfriend's child to wicked stepmothers killing their stepchildren. 

However, my issue is that unlike adults who enter the situation out of their own volition, for a myriad of reasons and with their eyes wide open, the children don’t ask for it. They are just victims of other people's choices who unfortunately find themselves in the situation, so if you end up in a blended family, please be kind, be tolerant, do your best and prayerfully give the rest to God...