DATE: Thursday, May 8, 1997                 TAG: 9705080348

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   63 lines

STEPFATHER DRAWS 10-DAY JAIL SENTENCE FOR PADDLING CHILD BUT THE MAN MAINTAINS HE DIDN'T CAUSE THE BLOODY WELTS DOCUMENTED BY SOCIAL WORKERS.

The man who spanked his 13-year-old stepdaughter with a wooden paddle and was charged with felony child abuse when raw, open wounds were found on her buttocks was sentenced Wednesday to 10 days in jail.

The stepfather, Ashley Holley, 41, also got a lecture from Circuit Judge A. Bonwill Shockley.

``If this were Colonial times and I could sentence you to lashings, I would do so,'' Shockley said.

Shockley said the spanking in March 1996 left raw skin hanging from the girl's buttocks. The results were documented by pictures.

``That goes beyond spanking a child,'' the judge said. ``You need to get a handle on what you are doing.''

Shockley initially sentenced Holley to five years in prison for felony child abuse, then suspended it in exchange for Holley spending 10 days in jail and paying court costs.

Holley pleaded guilty to felony child abuse April 11 but has maintained that he did not cause the bloody welts found by social workers on his stepdaughter's buttocks.

His wife, Felicia Holley, said after the hearing that the jail sentence was inappropriate.

``My husband is innocent,'' Felicia Holley said. ``My husband should not be given 10 days. He shouldn't be given any days.''

Holley, who has no previous criminal record, likely will serve the jail time on weekends, said his attorney, Richard G. Brydges. Holley was not available for comment.

His stepdaughter, Carmen Loveless, did not attend the hearing.

When the spanking incident occurred in March 1996, Carmen was living in Virginia Beach with her mother, stepfather and 11 siblings. The Holleys, strict Christians, had rules and regulations to help the household function efficiently, according to testimony.

On March 19, 1996, Holley paddled his daughter about 60 times with a wooden stick in the family's bathroom after instructing her to pull down her panties and bend over the sink. Holley claimed that he was punishing his daughter for her surly attitude and refusal to help with family chores.

Two days later, while Carmen was at Landstown Middle School, she told the school nurse that her buttocks were injured by her father during the paddling, according to the court record. The school immediately reported the bruises to Child Protective Services.

Carmen later changed her story and told authorities that although her father had paddled her, she injured her buttocks when she fell on the school playground.

Doctors who looked at the injuries did not find any evidence of a fall, according to evidence produced last month when Holley pleaded guilty.

Prosecutor Bill Monroe admitted Wednesday that sentencing Holley was a difficult task, especially because Holley refused to admit that he had done anything wrong.

The explanation that Holley gave for paddling his daughter was not sufficient, Monroe said.

Monroe said the case raised the question of when parents are justified in spanking a child and when it is inappropriate. ``A 13-year-old girl in the bathroom with her pants down is not proper,'' Monroe said. KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE SENTENCING

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