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Man Jailed After Mocking Girl With Cerebral Palsy

By Deanne Katz, Esq. on December 03, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Bullying is illegal -- a fact that William Bailey of Ohio learned after he was put in jail for taunting a child with cerebral palsy.

Bailey was picking up his son from a bus stop at the same Tricia Knight was picking up her children, including her 10-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy. When Bailey starting imitating the way Knight's daughter walked, she asked him to stop, the New York Daily News reports.

Bailey then allegedly told his son to walk like the "r-word." Knight's mother-in-law caught the whole thing on tape.

The family filed a complaint with police and submitted the video as evidence. That, combined with other complaints and incidents that happened between the families convinced prosecutors to press charges.

Bailey was charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and aggravated menacing, according to the Daily News.

The charges stemmed from a second incident that happened on the same day as the bullying. Bailey swung a tow chain from his porch and threatened to strangle Knight with it. She sent her kids out of the house while her husband called the sheriff's department.

Originally Bailey contested the charges, but he later pleaded no contest to both. The judge apparently took into consideration all of Bailey's actions toward the Knight family, not just the incident on the porch.

A no contest plea means Bailey will be punished for the crimes he was charged with, but it's not quite the same a guilty plea.

When a defendant pleads "no contest," it means they agree not to dispute the charges but also are not pleading guilty. For sentencing purposes, the court treats the defendant as if he is guilty, but for other purposes it's a little different.

A guilty plea can be used against a defendant in a related civil case, but a no contest plea cannot. If the Knights plan to file civil charges against Bailey, then this decision can't be used as evidence.

Menacing in Ohio carries a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail, reports The Hollywood Gossip. Bailey was given credit for one of those days so his total sentence was only 29 days.

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