Woman pleads guilty to assault on teenage son

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls woman has been convicted of beating her teenage son with a wooden paddle.

During a change-of-plea hearing Thursday in Flathead County District Court, Bobbie Lee Briscoe, 36, pleaded guilty to felony assault on a minor.

Pursuant to a plea bargain, prosecutors dropped an additional count of assault with a weapon, a felony.

Prosecutors allege Briscoe had a friend construct a wooden paddle specifically for the purpose of spanking the 13-year-old boy.

According to court records, the boy told investigators that on Oct. 2 his mother hit him so many times with the paddle he couldn't sit for up to two hours afterwards.

Court documents do not reveal what prompted the alleged beating or whether such beatings were an ongoing occurrence.

When investigators asked about the paddle, they were told Briscoe had burned it.