South Dakota couple plead not guilty to using prod on kids

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

A South Dakota couple have pleaded not guilty to charges that they gave four children illegal drugs and zapped them with a cattle prod to get them to comply with orders
By
The Associated Press
June 23, 2020, 7:12 PM
1 min read



This photos released by the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department shows Lance Long and Crystal Lynn Long. The South Dakota couple is accused of giving four children illegal drugs and of zapping them with a cattle prod to get them to comply with orders. Investigators have recommended charging Lance Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, of Sioux Falls, with aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, abuse or cruelty to a minor and numerous other counts. (Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department/The Argus Leader via AP)
The Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A South Dakota couple have pleaded not guilty to charges that they gave four children illegal drugs and zapped them with a cattle prod to get them to comply with orders.

Lance Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, of Sioux Falls, made their initial court appearances Monday. The Longs pleaded not guilty to several counts, including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, distribution of marijuana to a minor, distributing a controlled substance to a minor and abuse or cruelty to a minor, the Argus Leader reported.

Authorities with the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said the alleged abuse had been going on for several years and involved boys ages 17, 13 and 11, as well as a 15-year-old girl. The children are related and some are half-siblings.

Authorities received a child abuse complaint May 13 from someone connected to the couple, Minnehaha County sheriff’s Capt. Josh Phillips said. The children were interviewed and the Longs were arrested after fleeing to Oklahoma.


Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/south-dakota-couple-plead-guilty-prod-kids-71418055

[marie999]

1. I feel sick.

We have 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. When we have ever had to punish them it has been taking away a set amount of privileges for a set amount of time depending on what they did wrong.

[secondwind]

2. Sadly, these two were most likely repeating what was done to them as kids.

The cycle of violence is repeated over and over

[Karma13612]

4. Agree. And it needs to end. 🤬😢 nt

[Karma13612]

5. I so wish I had been raised in your family. 😢❤️ nt

[Karma13612]

3. Corporal punishment

All of it, including the kind that is considered “legal”

All of it


Needs to be ended. Needs to be considered a crime.

All of it.

Yea, I’m a bit passionate about it.

Each person, each human, each child has a different mental make up.
Just because punishing “Johnny” with a rod on his backside seemed to cause him no ill harm later in life Doesn’t mean that Timmy will react the same way. And Johnny might not seem outwardly affected, but inside, he might be quite broken.

It needs to stop, all of it.

[Major Nikon]

6. Your children are the only living thing you can legally hit

Inevitably when you try to have a discussion about the subject some says they were spanked as a child and they turned out fine as if their anecdotal evidence means anything. I was never hit by my parents and I never hit my children. There is absolutely no good reason to hit a child and plenty of good reasons why you shouldn’t.

[Tracer]

7. I was hit once in my life.

My dad whacked me with his belt. Funny thing is that I don't remember what I did to cause him to do that, but I sure remember the belt across my leg!

Other than that episode, my dad was a fine, but distant man.

[Major Nikon]

9. What it really does is erode respect for the parent

What I’ve seen with people who spank their children is by the time your kids get to be teenagers and you need that respect the most, it is gone. I’ve also noticed that people who spank their children often rely almost totally on it for discipline and abandon positive reinforcement almost entirely. Then they wonder why their teenagers are completely out of their control. There comes a point when spanking absolutely will not work and it’s too late for them to earn respect again.

[Karma13612]

8. My father hit us

My mother cried as she observed it.

I feared my fathers footsteps down the hall to my bedroom.

My mother begged my dad to not hit me.

Part of me is so strong that I want to fight.
Another part of me is broken.

Fear turns into anger. And you end up in hate.
I hated my father and still do. I did not morn his passing.

So, Dad, how did the hitting work out for you?

Oh, by the way, my Dad’s dad beat the crap out of him as a child.

Yup, it needs to end now.
For once and for all. 😢

[Major Nikon]

10. Both my children are adults

My son has Asperger's and lives with us and my daughter lives nearby. No matter what else we have going on, we all find the time to do something as a family at least once per week. My daughter knows she always has a room in our home if she ever needs it. I don’t think we would be that close had we spanked our kids. Fear is a very powerful emotion that just doesn’t go away.

[Karma13612]

11. Yup. We three siblings

Are living in different areas of the country.

We connect very rarely.

Mom and Dad have both passed and there still hasn’t been a funeral for either of them.

[OriginalGeek]

14. I'm still waiting for my step-father to die

so I can piss on his grave.

I left home at 17 so my younger brothers got it even worse than I did (well, for longer) but they seem to have forgiven him somewhat although none of us speak to him. I'm not into that at all.


On the other hand, the thing I am most proud of in life is that when my (step) sons introduce me to someone new, they just say "Dad" and leave out the "step".

[Warpy]

12. I grew up in the 50s and we were all hit. A lot.

It's one of the main things that soured my relationship with my parents.

I see a huge difference in the kids raised by my generation and who were not hit all the time.

Ma and Pa Long were probably in OK to see Big Dummy. Just a guess.

[Karma13612]

13. 👍 yup, born in the 50's as well

When I see Pleasant family scenes in movies and on TV, I wonder what it would have been like to grow up in one of those families.

At 66, I realize I just need to enjoy my life and not try to figure out what went on. It was messy and stressful and scary and sad.

Go in peace....

[Warpy]

15. Good description of that kind of childhood

I know I spent as little time indoors as possible and if the weather was bad, I was crouched in a ball with my nose in a book. I was an only, so keeping a low enough profile was tough.

TV didn't do it for me, I knew those saccharine sitcoms were fantasy because nobody I knew grew up in that kind of family, either. What makes me sad is watching my friends who grew up like I did and swore they'd never do that to their kids and seeing what great relationships they have. The kids are doing all right.