Cop Found Not Guilty of Assault on His Kids
By Laurie Mason, Courier Times
It took a Bucks County jury less than an hour Friday to find a Bristol Township police officer not guilty of assaulting his two children.
James Tully, 33, was charged with multiple counts of simple assault and endangering the welfare of children. He cried tears of relief as the verdict was read, said his attorney, Lou Busico.
"He loves his children very much, and just wants to get past this and begin the healing process," said Busico.
The alleged victims, Tully's 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, testified in Bucks County court in Doylestown last week that Tully whipped them five times each on their buttocks with a leather belt. The incident occurred on Sept. 1 at Tully's Falls home. The children live with Tully's ex-wife in Philadelphia. After the beating, the daughter ran to a neighbor's home and asked someone to call police.
In court last week, Senior Deputy District Attorney Maggie Snow showed the jury of five men and five women enlarged color photos of the children's wounds. Blue and crimson bruises were visible on both children's bottoms.
Tully took the stand Friday and admitted he hit the children but said he did not intend to injure them. He said he was fed up with the kids' behavior and decided to teach them a lesson.
"I'm not happy that I hit my children, and I wouldn't do it again. But at the time I thought it was an appropriate action," he said.
When Snow placed the large photos of his children's buttocks on the stand before him, Tully wiped away tears and asked Bucks County Judge Cynthia Rufe to remove the pictures from his sight.
Snow told the jury that Tully, as an adult, should have known that a hard smack from a leather belt would cause injury. She told the jurors that the beating was intended to "cause them pain and instill fear," and therefore was a crime.
But Busico argued that since Tully did not intend to cause the wounds, he should not be punished with jail time. If convicted, Tully could have faced up to five years in jail.
Tully refused to comment as he left the courthouse. He and his former wife are embroiled in a custody dispute, Busico said, but Busico does not represent Tully in that proceeding and could not offer details about how this case would affect the custody case.
Snow said the children were disappointed with the verdict but that she accepted it.
"It was our position that (the beating) was over the line. We put it to the jury, and they found that it was acceptable corporal punishment," she said.
Busico said the verdict showed parents want the freedom to care for their children as they see fit.
"With the exception of very serious cases, parents should have the expectation of being allowed discipline their children without the government interfering," he said.
Tully was on disability leave from the Bristol Township police department at the time of his arrest. It is unclear what Tully's current status is with the department. A spokesperson for Chief James McAndrews said Friday that the department had not learned the outcome of the trial and was not ready to make a comment about Tully's future employment status.
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