Yahn v. Doocy

1 Brian Doocy appeals a child abuse injunction which bars him from physically disciplining his girlfriends children. The childrens father petitioned for the injunction after he learned from a third party that Doocy had hit one of the children in the head with his knuckle in a Dairy Queen parking lot. The trial court granted the injunction on the theory that the hit caused the child pain and that pain constitutes "physical injury" within the meaning of the child abuse statutes. We disagree. We conclude that the evidence presented was insufficient to establish that the child suffered a physical injury. Accordingly, we vacate the injunction.