Father Who Spanked Daughter Hit With Fine

A father who smacked his 4-year-old daughter on the bottom ended up feeling a sting in his own back pocket when police ordered him to pay a $470 fine.

Norway’s strict child protection laws bar corporal punishment, even in the privacy of a family’s home. Violations are punishable by fines.

Ove Brudevoll, police spokesman in the town of Kristiansund, said the 30-year-old father, whose name was not released, admitted spanking his daughter in May because she disobeyed him at home.

“It caused a small bruise, which is how it came to the attention of the police, and was investigated,” Brudevoll said in a telephone interview Thursday. He would not say who noticed the bruise.