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Thompson said she beat kids, ex-worker testifies

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Thompson said she beat kids, ex-worker testifies

Springville mother is on trial in child abuse and her daughter's death

September 11, 2001

Jennifer M. Fitzenberger

The Fresno Bee

VISALIA -- A Springville woman charged with killing her 5-year-old adopted daughter said her children were well-behaved because she beat them, a witness testified Monday.

Angela Thompson didn't appear to be joking, said Wyonah Rivera, who used to work in the defendant's health-food store.

"I just asked, 'What it is that you do,' and she told me she beat them," Rivera testified. "There was not a smile on her face."

Without further explanation, Thompson then uttered the biblical phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child," Rivera told a Tulare County jury and Judge Gerald Sevier.

[This is an excerpt of the original article]

2001 Sep 11