Court: Telling child to stab mom not abuse

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — An appeals court on Friday threw out the child abuse conviction of a Stuart man who told his 6-year-old son to get a knife and stab the boy's mother, saying words alone do not amount to abuse. Edward Munao, 40, was found guilty by a jury in April 2005 of child abuse and solicitation to commit aggravated battery and Circuit Judge Gary Sweet sentenced him to five years on each count, to be served back-to-back. The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the solicitation charge, but acquitted him of abuse, knocking five years off his total sentence. .

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