A woman in Florida who was caught on camera abusing her toddler severely last year will not go to jail because she reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Yulia Storozhuk, who was 30 years old at the time, was charged with illegal child abuse in October 2023 for beating up her 3-year-old son.
She was given three years of probation on Thursday. The woman was charged in Miami-Dade County after a neighbor showed a video of her picking up her child with both hands, throwing him to the ground, and then grabbing him again. Police said that was only the start of the abuse, though.
A police report and an arrest document say, “While the victim is on the ground, the defendant maliciously kicks the victim twice.” “The defendant then grabs the victim by the face and throws him to the ground as the victim tries to stand up.” The defendant kicked the victim several times while leaving the camera’s view.
The abuse was caught on a second Ring camera, which showed the mother pushing her son “in the chest” and making him “fall back and hit the floor,” as stated in the lawsuit and affidavit.
Later, when asked to explain the video, Storozhuk accepted she was to blame and said the boy’s desire to play was what made her so angry.
According to the police report, the defendant was shown the Ring camera tape and admitted to being the person in the video. It was because her son insisted on going to the playground, so the defendant said she pushed him. The defendant then said that the son was being tough and wouldn’t cooperate.
After months of legal trouble, Storozhuk has been found guilty of a felony but will not have to spend any time in jail.
A courtroom report from Miami-based NBC station WTVJ says there is hope that the mother and child will be reunited in the end.
The lawyer for her told the TV station, “She was under a lot of stress when this happened.” “Once more, we don’t agree with what she did.” She knows. She feels bad about what she did, but at least she won’t have to go to jail.
But before they can get back together, Storozhuk needs to take a parenting class and get his mental health checked out. The judge in charge of the case warned that any more child abuse would be met with heavy punishments by the criminal justice system.
As the defendant cried, 11th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Carmen Cabarga said, “If you lay a finger on this child, you’re coming back before me.” She stressed certain words and syllables to make the sentence sound more serious. “And because the worst sentence I can give you is 10 years, the least I will do is 22.5 months in state prison.” “For a finger.”
The angry judge said Storozhuk’s treatment of her child was “horrible” and that the video of the abuse “warrants jail time.” However, she did listen to a mental health professional who said that the child would be better off in the long run if the parents got back together.
However, even though the judge ruled in favor of mercy, the plea deal wasn’t liked by everyone.
The son of the woman who was found guilty is currently living with a foster family.
In family court, Storozhuk still has a case open about who should have control of the boy. The child is currently being defended by a dependent lawyer. That dependency lawyer showed up at the mother’s sentence hearing to argue against the deal.