Mom of the Year

May 1, 2015 permalink

Toya Graham has become a national hero for hitting her sixteen-year-old son Michael when he tried to participate in a riot in Baltimore. Of course, child protective services is alert. They are investigating Graham for child abuse.

The viral video that touched off the attention is on YouTube and our local copy (mp4).

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Child Protective Services Launch Investigation On Baltimore Mom Who Hit Son

Written by Lea Vat Kens April 30th 2015

“A woman seen hitting and berating a black-clad teenager, later confirmed to be her son, has been hailed as “mom of the year” after her intervention on the streets of Baltimore was caught on video. As violence flared up across the city on Monday, the woman, who was identified as Toya Graham on Tuesday afternoon, was filmed telling her child to “take that f—— mask off.”

“Graham spoke to CBS News about the video, which initially went viral with little context. In the interview, the single mother of six tells the network that she intervened out of concern for her 16-year-old son’s safety. She said: “That’s my only son, and at the end of the day, I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray. But to stand up there and vandalize police officers, that’s not justice.”

“By late Monday, videos of the incident were so widespread that Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts brought it up in an overnight news conference. Batts told reporters: “And if you saw in one scene, you had a mother who grabbed their child who had a hood on his head and she started smacking him on the head because she was so embarrassed. I wish I had more parents who took charge of their kids tonight. I think these were youth coming out of the high school and they thought it was cute to throw cinder blocks at the police department and address it that way.”

However, in an unexpected turn of events, Child Protective Services in Baltimore has launched an investigation on Toya Graham shortly after the video which showed her beating her son on the street became viral.

A CPS Baltimore spokesperson told Newslo: “After reviewing the video in question, it has come to our attention that Ms. Graham is a mother of six. Although her actions are somewhat understandable, we cannot allow a young man to suffer such violence and abuse, regardless of the cause. Therefore, CPS investigators will question Ms. Graham and her children, and will also conduct an investigation that will determine if Ms. Graham will be allowed to continue being her children’s legal guardian.”

Ms. Graham did not wish to speak to Newslo or comment on the matter.

Source: Newslo