A 5-year-old berated and handcuffed by Maryland cops wins settlement money, but cops pay no price

On Jan. 14, 2020, a 5-year-old child left East Silver Spring Elementary School in Maryland and wandered away about 1,000 feet from the school into a residential area. He was discovered wandering and brought back to his elementary school by police officers. His mother was called and while he waited for her to arrive, he was berated by Montgomery County Police officers Dionne Holliday and Kevin Christmon. Video of their almost hour-long interaction with the child and then with the child and his mother filmed on one of the officers’ body cameras ended up going viral.

In that video the police officers repeatedly tell the child they believe he should be beaten. Saying things like, “Does your mama spank you? She’s going to spank you today,” the officers later on tell him they have told his mother to beat him. They put handcuffs on him at one point as a lesson of some sort. The child’s mother, Shanta Grant, filed a lawsuit against the police department and the school at the time. Her lawyer told reporters, “You don’t have to be a social worker or licensed counselor to know how to approach a child like this.”

Grant and Montgomery County reached a settlement earlier this month. The settlement reportedly pays the child’s family $275,000. Reportedly $220,00 was “paid on behalf” of the two officers, and $55,000 was paid on behalf of the Maryland board of education.

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