A prosecutor has informed a court that a woman put hot sauce in her adopted seven-year-old son’s mouth not as a punishment for the Russian boy’s lying, but rather to create sensational footage for a segment on the Dr Phil self-help TV show.
According to prosecutor Cynthia Franklin, Jessica Beagley, 36, recorded this punishment on October 21, 2010, for a segment titled Mommy Confessions.
The woman from Anchorage is facing misdemeanour child abuse charges linked to the footage. The eight-minute video features Ms Beagley confronting her son Kristoff regarding his misbehavior at school and lying, followed by her pouring hot sauce into his mouth while he cries, preventing him from spitting it out for over a minute.
The video also depicts Ms Beagley forcing the screaming boy into a cold shower before sending him to bed.
“There is absolutely no justification for someone hurting a child to appear on a reality show,” Ms Franklin argued in her closing remarks to the District Court jury.
Upon airing of the episode, public outrage erupted in Russia, with calls for the return of Kristoff and his twin brother, both of whom were adopted by Ms Beagley and her husband, to their homeland.
Ms Franklin informed the jury that this was not Ms Beagley’s initial attempt to gain access to the Dr Phil show.
After watching a segment titled Angry Moms in April 2009, she had reached out to the show but did not receive a response for a year and a half, according to Ms Franklin.
The show eventually reached out to check on whether Ms Beagley was still angry, Ms Franklin noted.
Following that, Ms Beagley submitted audition videos, but was told the producers needed more than just footage of her yelling at her children. They 
wanted to witness her actually disciplining her son, as per the prosecutor’s statement.
This prompted Ms Beagley to prepare her flip-cam, ensuring there was ample hot sauce on the shelf in the bathroom, and enlisting her 10-year-old daughter to film the video, Ms Franklin explained.
Just days later, she was bound for Los Angeles to appear on the show, Ms Franklin said.
The episode premiered on November 17, 2010. A request for comment from the show has not yet received a response today.
Ms Beagley’s attorney, William Ingaldson, stated that both Ms Beagley and her husband, a police officer, tried various traditional forms of punishment, such as spankings, timeouts, and restricting screen time, but found none effective with Kristoff.
Ms Beagley created the video and appeared on the show out of desperation to seek help for her son.
While Kristoff’s twin adjusted more easily, Kristoff exhibited more challenging behaviors, such as urinating on the floor, Mr Ingaldson reported.
Most recently, the boy has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and is receiving therapy, Mr Ingaldson added.
He urged the jury to carefully examine other submitted footage in which Ms Beagley guides the children on avoiding misbehavior and reminds them of the consequences of their actions.
“Her intention is not to provoke these children into misbehavior; she aims to do the opposite,” Mr Ingaldson asserted.
by Sasha Dubronitz
