Regular Discipline Failed, Dad Testifies

Speaking publicly for the first time about the child-abuse charges he and his wife face, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant testified Tuesday that his son was a defiant troublemaker whose behavior merited extreme discipline.

Grady Machnick told a jury of seven men and five women -- many themselves parents -- that he and his wife started with traditional discipline steps such as “timeouts” before eventually resorting to more serious punishment for repeated stealing and lying.

“He refused to do simple chores.... He would not respond to anything,” the sergeant told jurors in Orange County Superior Court in Newport Beach.

Machnick, 46, and his wife, a former Walnut elementary school principal, are charged with misdemeanor child abuse and felony conspiracy for a host of unconventional discipline steps, including sending the boy to school with dog droppings in his backpack. The action occurred when the boy was between ages 12 and 14. He is now 16.

Prosecutors call the Yorba Linda couple’s actions premeditated psychological cruelty. They acknowledged that the son sometimes misbehaved but said that the misbehavior didn’t warrant the treatment he received from his parents.

But Machnick said it was a desperate form of tough love aimed at setting straight a wayward son.

The sergeant, a 23-year veteran assigned to the Men’s Central Jail, said his son’s behavior was so troubling -- he ignored his chores, stole money and shouted profanity -- that it reminded him of the inmates he encountered at work.

Before turning to extreme discipline, Machnick said, he tried positive reinforcement. He said that when the boy was about 12 he offered his son tickets to the movies or Knott’s Berry Farm as a reward for completing chores on his own.

When his son’s misbehavior continued, Machnick said, he sent his son to a 10-day Marine Corps summer camp, hoping to instill self-confidence and discipline. When his son returned, Machnick said, he didn’t notice any changes.

The boy was later caught shoplifting at a nearby supermarket, the father said. He admitted selling stolen candy at school on a routine basis.

After two $100 bills ended up missing from his wife’s dresser in 2001, Machnick said, he searched his son’s room and found a box for a new CD player and a receipt showing it had been purchased with $200 cash.

Machnick said he decided not to leave his son home alone with his wife. On many mornings, the sergeant would wake his son at 3:30 a.m. before he left for work and force him into the backyard.

If the boy needed to use the bathroom, he would often walk to a neighborhood park. Machnick said he saw nothing dangerous about a young teen using a park bathroom at night or sleeping outside, using dog blankets and pillows.

Machnick said it was his wife’s decision to place dog droppings in his son’s backpack before school -- his punishment for failing to clean up after the family dogs.

When the boy started failing algebra during his freshman year at El Dorado High School, the parents decided jointly that they would force him to stay in the backyard until he finished his homework. “I said, ‘You’re out here. Get your math done and you can come back in the house,’ ” Machnick testified.

Then, in spring 2001, the boy missed an afternoon curfew by several hours. Machnick said he was so upset that he returned from work and poured water on his son’s face while the boy slept on the patio.

That night, the boy ran away to a friend’s house, where he stayed until the friend’s parents contacted police. Prosecutors filed charges against the parents in September 2001. The boy is now living with his friend’s parents, who are now serving as foster parents.

If convicted of both offenses, the Machnicks could face up to three years in prison.

Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for today.