HollyMatkinPhoenix, AZ – A no-nonsense Phoenix mother allegedly used a stun gun to encourage her defiant teen to attend church with her on Easter Sunday, police said.
“I said, ‘Get up! It’s Jesus’ Day!'” Sharron Dobbins told KNXV.
According to Maricopa County court records, Dobbins, 40, was arrested for felony child abuse, WJW reported.
Dobbins said that she became frustrated after her 17-year-old son blew off her directive to send his friends home, and to get ready to go to church.
“He said some cuss words to me, and he said that his friends don’t have to go anywhere,” Dobbins told WJW.
In response, Dobbins went to her room, picked up her stun gun, and went back to her defiant son’s bedroom.
She said she was standing approximately five feet away from the teen, when she sparked the device as a warning.
“I made the noise with the Taser, but I did not tase my son,” she told KNXV.
After she issued her warning, the teen told her he was calling the police, she said.
“I said, ‘You can call the police, UPS, DPS, whoever you want to call,'” Dobbins told KNXV. “Police were on the phone and I told the dispatcher, I told her, ‘You need to be with Jesus right now.'”
Dobbins was unconcerned when police arrived, but soon realized she wasn’t going to make it to church.
“[The officer] came back and said, ‘Put everything down,’ and I said, ‘For what?’” Dobbins told KSAZ. “He said, ‘For tasing your son.’ I said, ‘I didn’t tase my son, I made the noise.’ He said that its domestic violence against a minor. So they handcuffed me. I start crying and got in the back of the police car.”
According to police, Dobbins’ other son, 17, and her nephew, 18, said that Dobbins actually used the weapon on the teen.
The 16-year-old did not want to pursue charges, and said he was not in pain, but did have two small bumps on his leg where he said his mother shocked him with the device.
She was released on her own recognizance following her initial court appearance, but was prohibited from having contact with her sons – both of whom were on probation, she said.
“He has an ankle bracelet on,” Dobbins said of her 16-year-old, according to WJW. “He’s under my custody and everything.”
She said she would make other living arrangements for her children pending her next court appearance on Apr. 16.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong, because you’re supposed to put God first and that’s all I was trying to do is tell my kids to put God first,” Dobbins told KNXV.