Woman filmed hitting her daughter turns herself in

A US mother turned herself in to police to face a child battery charge, eight days after a nationally televised video-tape depicted her shaking, slapping and punching her four-year-old daughter in a store car park.

Madelyne Gorman Toogood, 26, of Mishawaka, Indiana, and her lawyer met police at an undisclosed location yesterday, Lieutenant Jeff Giannuzzi said.

The girl showed no visible signs of injuries, but Child Protective Services will temporarily place her with another family that is not related, prosecutor Chris Toth said. He said she was being examined at a hospital.

“She’s safe. We just have to, at this point, make sure there are not any deeper physical injuries,” Mr Toth said. “She’s a sweet, wonderful girl. Physically she looks fine.”

An arrest warrant issued on Friday charged Toogood with battery to a child, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Toogood, who investigators said cooperated during a one-hour interview, was transferred to the county jail for booking. She posted bond and was released last night, declining to talk with reporters gathered outside the jail.

Police had been searching for Toogood and her daughter since the September 13 incident when she was caught on video by a surveillance camera outside a department store in northern Indiana.

Authorities said the mother had left the store angry because she was refused a cash refund for goods. The woman is then seen putting her daughter in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle, then pummelling, slapping and shaking her for nearly 30 seconds.

Toogood’s lawyer Steven Rosen said on Friday that his client regrets the incident.

“It was a bad choice, and it was captured on Candid Camera,” Mr Rosen said. “She’s very remorseful. She regrets it.”

Authorities feared the girl, Martha Toogood, might have been seriously injured. Mr Rosen said Toogood’s family members and friends told him the child was fine and had been examined by a doctor.

He said the girl was with her mother on Friday night, along with her two sons, aged five and six.