A North Carolina mother is facing charges of misdemeanor child
abuse after police accused her of ordering her son to “beat the gay
away” from his brother.
Mary Gowans' 15-year-old son told police on Saturday that his
mother ordered his 12-year-old brother to strike him repeatedly and
that he was not allowed to fight back.
She reportedly also beat the teen in his underwear with a belt.
The 15-year-old had a large abrasion on his back, according to
police.
Gowans has denied the charges, saying that her son was drunk when
he reported the incident to police, and that the older son hit the
younger one, so she let the younger one hit him back.
She admitted that she's opposed to homosexuality and that she had
heard that her 15-year-old had been molested by a gay man. She said
that she beat her son in an effort to keep him from visiting the man.
“Yes, I think that he was molested,” Gowans
told WECT. “But, like I said, I called the Whiteville PD and
nothing was done.”
When asked if it would bother her if her son turned out to be gay,
she answered: “It bothers me because he's a young age. He's not
all there. He do not know right from wrong.”