Florida woman whips 26-year-old stepson's bottom 30 times with leather belt for missing midnight curfew
A Florida woman has been arrested after she reportedly whipped her 26-year-old stepson with a leather belt because he missed his midnight curfew and arrived home 30 minutes later than expected.
According to The Smoking Gun, 42-year-old Valerie Branch-Galloway has been charged with domestic battery over the incident and was booked into the county jail on a misdemeanor count early on Monday, May 27. The altercation unfolded inside her Largo residence in the early hours of Thursday, May 23, after she called the 26-year-old at midnight and asked why he had not returned home by his 12 am deadline.
During the call, he was offered a choice by the stepmother: either she could tell his father that he broke the curfew, or he could endure the "licks" from a leather belt. When he returned to the residence, which is shared by Valerie, who has been his stepmother for 13 years, and his biological father, with whom he has been living for the last three months, chaos ensued.
Investigators said the man "picked the licks", following which his stepmother struck him in the "buttock area" 11 times before he begged her to stop. They alleged that she responded to his pleas with, "No, you have 19 more," and proceeded to strike him a further 19 times. When questioned by the police following her arrest, Valerie reportedly confessed to striking her stepson 30 times with a leather belt in "the buttock area for being late", but denied that he "ever said to stop".
Speaking about the case, an officer from the Largo Police Department noted that the victim "still had bruising on his lower right back and hip area." The cops were seemingly surprised by his age, writing in their report, "It should be noted the vic is 26yo." Valerie made her first court appearance in connection to the incident on Tuesday, May 28. She has been released from custody after posting a $2,500 bail.
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