Rant #581: Daddy Demented

In part two of our unofficial look at the worst parents on the planet, here is another episode of "Parents Gone Mad."

A father was charged with child abuse after prosecutors said he slapped his seven-year-old son until he cried, and then, for good measure, threw the boy overboard during a recent pleasure cruise in California.

Sloan Briles, 35, of Irvine, Calif., had been drinking before the boy was tossed 10 feet over the side of the Queen in Newport Harbor during a cruise on Aug. 28, authorities said. When other passengers became angry, Briles jumped into the water before someone on a nearby boat retrieved the boy, prosecutors said.

Several days later, Briles told the syndicated show "Inside Edition" that the episode amounted to "roughhousing."

"We were just screwing around, just showing off, just being guys," he told the show. "It's not like I threw him off. We went together. It was just like a hand-in-hand thing."

Briles, who has had several run-ins with the police in the past, is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 26 in Newport Beach on one felony count of child abuse and endangerment and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. If convicted, he could face up to six years in prison.

Well, doesn't he make our previous day's "Mom of the Year" look just stunning?

This guy obviously lost it. Under the influence of alcohol, anything is possible, and I guess that pretty much sums up what this father did to his son.

And his claims that what they were doing was "roughhousing"? I don't know about that. Sure, I have roughhoused with my own son. It's part of being a dad. Nobody gets hurt. It's fun.

But when you endanger your son's life ... no, I would not call that roughhousing. I would call it plain stupid.

And like yesterday's perfect parent, this guy should get the book thrown at him. He is a jerk.

And he should not be able to see this kid again--and, for that matter, his other kids from his previous marriage again--unless the visits are supervised.

So there you have it--one "perfect" parent on the East Coast, the other on the West Coast.

This doesn't absolve the middle of the country, nor does it absolve any other part of the country (you might remember that in Rant #565, I talked about a mother in Alaska who forced her child to take hot sauce for being a naughty kid).

What is going on in this world today? Have some parents completely lost their minds?

I know this is harsh, but some people shouldn't be parents. Just because they can sire kids or have kids doesn't mean that they should.

Maybe a good doll would do. Or maybe a good doctor's procedure.

I just don't know ...