I’ll wash your mouth out
On the, surface one might think washing a child’s mouth out with soap is no crime, but the rest of the story changes that.
32-year-old Adriyanna Herdener, deferred punishment to her live-in boyfriend, 41-year-old Wilfredo Rivera. After all, he was the father of their 18-month-old daughter and, as Herdener told police, “the head of the household.”
The 8 year-old daughter of Herdener apparently said some bad words. Rivera grabbed a bar of Irish Spring and told the child – not wash her mouth out – but to EAT the bar of soap.
Herdener watched for 10 minutes as her asthmatic 8 year-old daughter chewed on this bar of soap (containing poisonous anti bacterial ingredients); crying and begging to stop the torture. The girl began foaming at the mouth and vomited. Herdener made her child clean-up her own vomit. Rivera laughed at the girl.
The child then went into anaphylactic shock and her mouth and throat began to swell. Herdner told Rivera to take her to the hospital so she didn’t have to deal with child services. Rivera took the child to the ER, but once he realized they were calling police he grabbed the girl and bolted. He took her back home.
When police arrived Herdner said she had given her some Benadryl and put her to bed. They found her in bed wheezing.
The soap punishment rose to the level of a crime because of the malicious torture involved and the protection and help the mother failed to provide to her child.
The 8 year-old and the 18 month-old are in protective custody.
Thanks for the tip Courtney!
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October 16th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Make both of the parents a bleach and ammonia cocktail, and tell them it’s happy hour.
October 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Common sense??? Never occured to them that eating a bar of soap might be DANGEROUS??? WTF? lol wow some people these days…what the hell is our world coming to???
October 16th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
How can you, as a parent/adult feel this is proper punishment or safe?? I say bring them in front of the judge and then make them eat soap til they puke. It’s so scary that there are so many “parents” out there who have absolutely no idea how to parent their own children. You would think that a natural, unconditional love would exist automatically but it just doesn’t.
October 16th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
When I was little, I went to a very good Christian school that unfortunately had a very bad principal. Some poor boy said some bad words, and the woman (the principal) made him DRINK dish washing soap.
He tried to, then proceeded to vomit.
I don’t remember too much about it… I was maybe 5. My Mom said I came home very upset, and told them all about it. She and a bunch of other kids parents who had witnessed it complained, and the evil pricipal was kicked out.
To my knowledge, the remaining teachers there were nice people.
But I don’t remember if any of them tried to stand up to the principal to protect the little boy or not.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:11 am
This is actually a pretty common form of child abuse. I’ve had to do it. So has my fiance and his best friend. It was liquid soap, though, with me. I still can’t use Softsoap, the smell makes me gag.
October 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Sad to say, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a kid eating soap as punishment. I’ve read it in the biography of Ursula, Death From Child Abuse and No One Heard. One of the major reasons she died was from repeatedly forced to eat soap!
Just makes me sick to hear it…Poor kid, those ‘parents’ really should be forced to put their huge egos in their kids small shoes by eating soap…
October 17th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
This is far more common than people think. My stepfather used to force me to take big bites out of Coast soap when I was a kid. If it didn’t make me vomit, I wound up nearly shitting myself to death.
October 18th, 2009 at 2:58 am
I was raised by a strict British mom. My sister once had to wash her mouth out, but basically it was just a taste of soap. My two young uns are saucy, but I wouldn’t treat the punishment in this manner. Taking away a Hannah Montana toy is much worse in their eyes.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I think washing a child’s mouth out with soap, period, is a form of child abuse.
My own personal opinion though.