Woman In Taped Beating Surrenders
Incident Caught By Security Camera Outside Kohl's Store In Indiana
Posted: 9:53 a.m. EDT September 20, 2002
Updated: 6:34 p.m. EDT September 21, 2002
A woman videotaped beating her 4-year-old daughter outside a Kohl's department store in Mishawaka, Ind., turned herself in to authorities Saturday.
Around 5:25 p.m., Madelyne Toogood, also known as Madelyne Gorman, turned herself in to Mishawaka police, CNN reported. Her daughter and her lawyer were with Toogood when she arrived at the police station in a blue van. CNN reported that two other vans and two police cruisers escorted the van.
Toogood has been arrested for battery to a child, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. After being questioned by police, she is expected to be transported to the county jail about 15 minutes away, where she will be booked.
Toogood's lawyer, Stephen Rosen, expects his client to post the $5,000 bail and be freed later Saturday. Prosecutor Christopher Noth said prosecutors had requested $50,000 bond.
On Friday, Rosen told reporters that Toogood made a "bad choice, and it was captured on Candid Camera." He said she's "very remorseful."
Child Welfare workers were on hand to determine the condition of Martha Toogood, the child who police say was beaten in the videotape.
Rosen said the 4-year-old child was in good shape, and the prosecution team reported she was not crying when she arrived at the police station, CNN reported. Earlier he said he had spoken with Toogood's family and friends and they say the child is mentally and physically stable.
Police said earlier Toogood would be extradited from Illinois to St. Joseph County if she surrendered.
Mishawaka is about 60 miles east of Chicago.
Police Concerned About Girl
Indiana police say their "biggest concern" is to get medical attention for the young girl seen on the videotape.
"We want to get her to an emergency room and let them examine her," Mishawaka Police Chief Anthony Hazen said.
The video shows a girl police identify as 4-year-old Martha Toogood being pummeled, slapped and shaken in the parking lot of a Kohl's store on Sept. 13.
Authorities say a doctor who saw the tape says Martha could have suffered head, neck and brain injuries.
Earlier, Hazen said the woman's family was refusing to cooperate, even though they said they would. 
Her sister, Margaret Daley, has been arrested and charged with not reporting child abuse. Daley also appears on the videotape.
Visiting American University law professor Marlana Valdez said after viewing the videotape that the woman will have a tough time justifying her actions to a judge.
Valdez said judges consider several factors in deciding abuse cases, such as the long-term results of the physical abuse, as well as what a "reasonable" parent would have done.
The harm done to the child would be weighed against the parents' right to control, train and educate their children. Valdez said the videotaped mother would find it hard to meet those standards.
Valdez said the fact that the beating was done to a 4-year-old child and in public invites a check of what's going on at the home.
According to Mishawaka police, they believe Toogood is from an area near Fort Worth, Texas, and has a criminal record.
Police think Toogood, 25, got angry when the store refused to give her a cash refund for a purchase.
The camera videotaped the woman leaving the store and then beating her child as the little girl climbed into their SUV. Toogood's Toyota Sequoia was recovered Thursday in Indiana at an apartment complex but Gorman was nowhere to be found.
Police also said Toogood has addresses in Fort Worth and White Settlement, Texas.
Police believe she may be part of a group known as the "Travellers" who move from place to place and sometimes use multiple identities. 
They are also known as scam artists who go into department stores and try to shoplift or use phony receipts to get money, police told Detroit's WDIV.
The woman's Texas license plate is registered to a Fort Worth title company, but White Settlement police believe Toogood has lived in a local trailer park.
KXAS-TV in Dallas showed the surveillance photo to the managers, who told the station she looks familiar.
Michigan police also became involved in the search for the woman because police believe that she has family there.
After the video was aired, Mishawaka Police received more than 1,000 tips.
Gorman Stats:
- 25 years old
- 5 feet 6 inches tall
- 130 lbs
- Blond hair
- Brown eyes
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Copyright 2002 by KMBC.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.