Israeli Teacher Jailed For Abuse Of Own Son

A 42-year-old teacher from Netanya was arrested early Friday for allegedly beating and starving her 10-year-old son.

Citing the biblical saying "he who spares the rod, hates his son," the teacher told investigators that she was "educating" the boy.

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Police were called to the teacher's apartment due to a noise complaint. Officers asked that loud music playing in her home be turned down, but the people inside refused, until police threatened to break down the door.

When the woman opened the door, police found the boy with two black eyes, bleeding from his forehead and covered in bruises. The teacher, her husband and their children claimed the boy had fallen off his bicycle, but police took the parents in for questioning.

The 10-year-old told police that he had not eaten since the morning, and the woman admitted to hitting him with a carpet beater. Police found that the incident was not isolated, and that the mother had turned up the music so the neighbors would not hear her son cry.

The teacher said she does not believe in the existing educational system, and had been homeschooling her son, after he had gotten into fights at school and stole candy from a local supermarket, she said.

The teacher's husband was released to house arrest. The couple has a second, 14-year-old son. Both boys were transferred to a shelter.