Trooper Teaches Parent How to Abuse Her Child

By TChris, Section Misconduct
Posted on Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 07:54:09 PM EST
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Trooper Patrick Sharkey was dispatched to a residence in Caro, Michigan to respond to a complaint of an "unruly child." Melissa Ihrke told Sharkey that her 8-year-old son suffered from attention deficit disorder. According to the Michigan Attorney General's office, Sharkey later told the dispatcher: "Attention Deficit Disorder? One whack with a paddle gets your attention."

When Sharkey instructed Irhke to spank her son with a belt as the solution to his behavioral problems, Irhke objected that she didn't want to commit child abuse. After Sharkey assured her that spanking wasn't child abuse, Irhke administered blows with a belt that were, in Sharkey's judgment, "a couple of love taps." Dissatisfied with Irhke's gentle approach, Sharkey seized the belt. Telling Irhke "you need to do this so he'll feel it" and "I want to hear him scream," Sharkey demonstrated his theory of "tough love" by striking the boy with the belt. Four times.

[more ...]

Perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is the ending: the AG's office dismissed a felony charge of misconduct, allowing Sharkey to plead no contest to a misdemeanor that will subject him to no more than 93 days in jail and possibly save his job. True, the disposition also saves his state pension (accumulated over 24 years of service), the loss of which would have been a harsh punishment. But why didn't the AG's office demand Sharkey's resignation in exchange for that concession?

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Trooper Teaches Parent How to Abuse Her Child | 31 comments (31 topical)

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So, now we know... (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 08:03:36 PM EST

...what James Dobson is doing in his retirement. Changed his name and moved to Michigan...

Seriously, that's just messed-up.

We treat out children... (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by Dadler on Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 08:34:58 PM EST

...worse than animals treat theirs. We reproduce in a manner more akin to insects than top of the food chainers. Do you ever see elephants just beating the sh*t out of their young? Or mountain gorillas? Among creatures of higher "intelligence", we rank far below many beasts in the care and rearing we give our young.

Man is not atypical (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by cenobite on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 01:21:36 AM EST

Both female and male chimpanzees (our closest relatives) practice infanticide.


: yes, i'm aware of this (none / 0) (#23)
by Dadler on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 04:08:28 PM EST

it's why i did not include them, instead choosing elephants and mountain gorillas. i still think we fall far short of several creatures in terms of the care and nurturing and concern we give our young.

: Many years ago I read a book (none / 0) (#28)
by hairspray on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 02:00:27 PM EST

titled "On Agression" by Konrad Lorenz about the increase in aggressive behavior on species when their territories were crowded. He attempted to draw a parallel between human species and various other groups he studied. Interesting!

I wish our attorney general (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by Dr Molly on Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 09:00:26 PM EST

would get tough on child abusers instead of pot smokers.

That gives me... (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by sj on Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 10:14:52 PM EST

... a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just sick, powerfully sad, and really angry.

blaming the mom (5.00 / 2) (#18)
by Bemused on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 11:42:05 AM EST

without a full understanding of the circumstances seems awfully similar to what the cop did.

If she was afraid the boy would imminently harm himself, her or some other person, what other recourse would she have? Calling the doctor to discuss medication doesn't do anything to diffuse an immediate emergency. Counselors or social workers might not even be available to speak with let alone respond to the scene.

Well, maybe if she had gotten some help (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by Anne on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 11:57:46 AM EST

to do this:

Ihrke also took the boy to an inpatient mental-health treatment center on Nov. 13, 2008, the day after the alleged beating, according to court documents.
The boy's behavior stabilized at the treatment center after doctors took him off the medication, Pheney states.

in the first place, there would not have been any beatings at all.

It's also possible that if she had called the doctor and described the symptoms, he or she would have instructed the mother to take the child to the ER for a psych evaluation, or would have called 911 for her and instructed the dispatcher that the child needed medical/psych treatment not a cop to show up to give child-beating lessons to the mother.


: Again, (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by Bemused on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 02:05:55 PM EST

you don't know all the circumstances. Maybe she had called the doctor before and she wasn't put right through and offered that or any advice. Maybe she lives somewhere where 911 lacks the ability to expeditiously have mental health proferssionals dispatched to crisis situations Or, a thousand other maybes.
Judging the woman based on brief newspaper article is unfair.

We aren't (none / 0) (#7)
by maddog on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 07:43:14 AM EST

tough enough on our children. Ask any teacher.

The cop went about it the wrong way but that parent should have never let that kid get out of hand. It is difficult to discipline children and too many parents are either too lazy or don't have the stomach to make their kid suffer consequences for actions.

Thanks. (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by Fabian on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 09:16:58 AM EST

I needed to know that there are still people out there who think they know how other people should raise their kids.


I do have to wonder (none / 0) (#10)
by Inspector Gadget on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 09:43:53 AM EST

what a parent might be thinking when they decide to call the police in because their child is being "unruly" (their word, not mine).

I think I would have called the doctor who prescribed the medication that the mother told the officer was the point when her son's behaviors changed.

This poor mother seems too dependent on the authorities around her. I've seen a variety of new mothers today afraid to make their own decisions because of the fear generated by CPS that they will take over if you make a mistake that would be a good example for others.

maddog is right that teachers think we aren't hard enough on our kids, and they are stuck dealing with the results of that. Attitudes on how to raise children are pretty fluid. Dr. Spock had the theories that raised many of the baby boomers.


"hard enough"? (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Fabian on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:02:00 AM EST

I shudder to think what a Dobsonite would do with an AD/HD child or worse, any child on the autistic spectrum.


I take the assessment of teachers with a (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by Inspector Gadget on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:45:35 AM EST

grain of salt. Always have. They say what they say because they don't know how to capture their audience.


: It may not be discipline. (none / 0) (#17)
by Fabian on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 11:04:45 AM EST

Some families value education, some don't.
I worked with a young woman who proudly proclaimed that she'd never read a book since she left school. She wasn't encouraged to go to college either. Her father graduated from high school and that's he need, all anyone needed.

: Funny (none / 0) (#26)
by maddog on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 12:07:02 PM EST

Teachers aren't entertainers that have to capture an audience. They are there to teach children. I hate to give the old "when I was growing up" routine, but my parents never took my side of an argument over a teacher's, my grandmother taught 40 kids in her 5th grade class. You know how she did it, she didn't have to worry about entertaining her students. Discipline was taken care of by the parents. The biggest threat was that she would report the behavior to the parents. Now if a teacher did that the parent would ask why the teacher is so hard on the parent.
I think inspector gadget is one of those parents. "My child would never do something like that." Ha.

Perhaps she didn't call the cops, but (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by nycstray on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:29:50 AM EST

called 911? I have a feeling "unruly" is an understatement. Isn't it possible she couldn't reach the doctor and didn't know what to do? It may not have been safe driving with him in the car, if she could even get him into a car. She was obviously at a loss and didn't know what to do.

I can't imagine that aggressive punishment would have helped the situation and it's prob better that the child has a reluctant parent vs one that would have tried to "fix" the situation with force. We could be hearing quite a different story . . .


I only need look at the headlines.. (none / 0) (#21)
by connecticut yankee on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 01:01:03 PM EST

to know that many parents are failing.


If neither the mother nor the cop (5.00 / 2) (#13)
by Anne on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:16:00 AM EST

understood what it means to have ADD, that was a recipe for disaster, and it's probably just dumb - and I emphasize the word "dumb" - luck that it didn't end worse than it did.

Of course, given the number of kids who are slapped with the ADD label and medicatated just for, essentially, being active kids, it's hard to know whether the child in question really has ADD, if there might be something else going on - but cops are not the people to call to settle the answer to that question. Suggestions for the mother to call the doctor, or, worst case, take the kid to the ER and ask for an evaluation - yes - but under no circumstances should a cop - or anyone - be teaching a parent how to beat a child. A cop who thinks that's his job needs to not have that job anymore - who knows what other "lessons" he thinks he should be teaching the public.

As for the mother, she must have been at the end of her rope - and it was the cop's job to recognize that, sympathize with that, defuse the tension and get the woman some help for herself and her child.

There are some parents who are so afraid their children won't "like" them if they impose rules and structure and discipline - which, by the way, does not have to involve physical punishment - that they do, eventually end up being unable to "control" their children. I have heard parents say that they don't understand why their kids won't behave when "I let him do pretty much whatever he wants as long as he isn't doing anything that's really wrong." These are the parents whose children make it impossible for you to enjoy dinner in a restaurant, or a movie or shopping - because their kids are doing whatever they want and the parents are letting them.

These parents cannot believe that children actually are happier when there is structure, when they know there are rules and what the rules are - and what happens when the rules are broken. School is a place where structure has to be in place in order for large groups of children to learn - and if there is no structure at home, these children have no idea how to fit into it. And why or how would they if they spent their initial years in a home where there were no rules? And, if once the kid comes home, it's a free-for-all?

That being said, whatever else was going on with that kid and his mother, the cop should have known better - a lot better - and been relieved of his job.


Geez. (none / 0) (#9)
by Fabian on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 09:25:45 AM EST

Initially, I thought this was some young, inexperienced officer trying to be helpful.

Then I read down to the "24 years of service" and my jaw dropped. Now might be the time to have the remaining officers carry cards with contact information for pediatric counselors and psychiatrists. Step back and let the professionals handle it. That should be a familiar sentiment for the police.

: After the role the professionals (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by Inspector Gadget on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 09:55:57 AM EST

played in the child molestation cases of the 80s and 90s, I'm somewhat skeptical of the epidemics that involve children and conditions that have no absolute tests to confirm.
The officer was wrong in his decision to handle it the way he did. If the boy was experiencing one of the negative reactions to the medication, he needed to simply have her call her son's pediatrician for how to proceed.

Not for nothing... (none / 0) (#15)
by kdog on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:37:39 AM EST

you call the cops on your own kid you're asking for trouble.

Moral of the story....never ever ever call the cops unless it is absolutely necessary...they're not your friends.

But yeah, obviously this guy needs to be sh&tcanned stat.

i am sorry that is not correct (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by nyjets on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 12:07:29 PM EST

I will grant you some cops are bad. And they do bad job of policing themselves. But, I am sorry, you are being a tad parnoid.


Time is money (none / 0) (#24)
by jondee on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 04:34:36 PM EST

and there's not enough time in the day for all that "nurturing" crap; lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way and God help those caught under the wheels.


: Ya forgot... (none / 0) (#25)
by kdog on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 09:16:41 PM EST

"pass the strap", my good man.

Odd how different every other google hit (none / 0) (#27)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 01:29:09 PM EST

of this story is from the one linked by TChris:

[Sharkey's attorney] Gierhart said that after Sharkey came to the home, Ihrke found a belt and beat the boy with it. Gierhart claims the mother became upset when the child mocked her after that beating, and then handed the belt to Sharkey, urging him to hit the child with it.

The charges stem from an incident in which Sharkey responded to a 911 call in Ellington Township. There reports say the mother told Sharkey to hit her son with a belt. Sharkey is currently suspended from duty.

Tuscola County dispatchers sent Sharkey to the scene after Melissa Ihrke reported she couldn't control her son, according to Gierhart.
"Her son was a little jerk," Gierhart said. "It was his language, actions, behavior, showing disrespect for his mother and using extreme profanity.
"He was saying words that an 8-year-old should not even know."
Sharkey arrived at the home to find the child had locked himself inside a bedroom, and the trooper assisted the boy's mother in getting him out of the room, according to Gierhart.
Sharkey and the mother "then have a conversation about what forms of corporal discipline she can use," Gierhart said.
The mother "decided she wanted to spank the child, so she went and got a belt - it wasn't Trooper Sharkey's belt," Gierhart said.
"She attempts to spank the child with the belt, but when she's done, the child mocks her and she's upset, and she turns around and hands the belt to Trooper Sharkey and says 'You do it.'

Even assuming (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by Bemused on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 02:06:48 PM EST

that version is a more accurate retelling of some of the facts, the cop should know better than to strike an eight year old who is not his own child while on duty as a police officer.


Oh yeah, no argument from me on that point. (none / 0) (#30)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 02:19:34 PM EST

google also turns up a mid-90's alleged shooting incident cover-up that this cop was allegedly a part of.


: Actually, I guess that should read (none / 0) (#31)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 03:12:39 PM EST

shooting incident alleged cover-up.

Trooper Sharkey (none / 0) (#32)
by mikezack on Tue Apr 07, 2009 at 12:51:10 AM EST

People should not judge this trooper based upon the articles. Do some research and interview the neighbors of the mother. Also, research the many years he has been a trooper. I have. 911 tapes confirm the moher asking for assistance with disciplining her child. The dispatcher should never have sent any officer out on this call. 911 is used for emergencies NOT for discipline of children that parents can't control. Cops are there to protect citizens NOT WASTE time on family matters. The step-father ahould've been called by the mother NOT 911. the step-father not biological father is in their life. He's not however in the home. They are separated. She apparently is strapped for cash, which makes me think this is all about money. Especially when civil suits against the MSP, the state, and the trooper were filed before the trooper even plead. The trooper has been decorated as an outstanding officer by the MSP countless times and by the state itself. This trooper has never had a litigation against him. As far as the supposed cover of the shooting oes, the trooper is trained in forensics and ballistics. He had to determine the point of entry so that emergency technicians would know when they arrived. This made it possible for the man to get emergency help sooner rather than later. There was no coverup. The investigation into this determined the shooting was justified. Sharkey was only trying to help save the man's life. He wasn't even the trooper that shot the man. Sharkey also is very involved in the war on terrorism. He confiscated 1,000 cell phones in a possible attack on the Mackinaw Bridge. He pays for continued education in his field out of his own pocket so that he can be kept up to date on the change in laws and more ways in determining investigations and how to process evidence. He is an evidence tech. He is great at his job. When he disciplined NOT beat the child as articles suggest he did so by the asking of the mother. He was within the law. Refer yourselves to Michigan law CJI2d 17.24
The only he's guilty of is bad judgement and breaking departmental policy and procedures, which is in direct conflict with the law. The only thing that should've happened was a write up to be put in his file for breaking departmental policies and procedures. He admitted he spanked the child and even put it in his police report that day. He obviously has nothing to hide. He only plead because fool Mike Cox charged him with misconduct in office, which ultimately would've resulted in him losing his job, his pension, and his retirement along with serving prison time. He retires in 9 months. He knows what he did and is not lieing to save his a** like some officers would. If he were in violation of the law he wouldn't be dumb and put it in the report or even admit to the spanking. By pleaing out he still has the chance of keeping everything he holds dear. This mother is a poor excuse for a human being and a mother by trying to ruin a man's life just so she can cash in on it.