Man charged with slapping daughter with machete

On the heels of another parent being charged with beating their child with a machete, the Office of the Children's Advocate is again appealing to parents to maintain positive and effective parenting.

Yesterday, the police arrested and charged 54-year-old Joseph Arthurs, a businessman of Revival district, Westmoreland, with assault occasioning bodily harm after he slapped his daughter with a machete.

He reportedly told her to go home, but she disobeyed his instructions. He reportedly exited the vehicle and used a piece of stick to hit her on the hand. He subsequently went to the car and retrieved a machete which was used to hit her in the back.

Arthurs is to appear before the Westmoreland Parish Court on May 15.

The Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison told our news team that the agency did take an active interest in the matter after it was brought to her attention through the media.

She used this latest episode of machete beating to remind parents of their responsibility to uphold positive and effective parenting.

"We understand parents get frustrated and desperate to get their message across to the child. My call to parents is to look at the methods being used and the type of child and seek help," Gordon Harrison said.

A St Thomas woman who was seen beating her daughter with a machete in a video circulating on social media last year was sentenced to three years probation with parental counselling and anger management in February of this year.