Father 'encouraged shoe licking to improve school grades'
An Ohio man has been put on probation for ordering his children to hit their heads against a wall, lick his shoes and stand naked in an attempt to improve their school grades.
Thomas Lavery was given three years' probation after admitting two child endangerment charges.
Akron Common Pleas Judge James Williams threatened him with prison for future violations. He educated his five children at home.
The 57-year-old told reporters he pleaded guilty to end the media attention which has followed his family for 11 months.
"Maybe I pushed them a little too hard. Maybe I was too close to them, overbearing, impatient, ugly at times,'' he said.
The terms of the probation include strict supervision for the next six months and anger management counselling.
Lavery was charged with seven counts of child endangerment, based on allegations dating back to the late 1980s, the Beacon Journal reports.
"I tried to get them to be as successful as they can be, follow productive lives. I didn't want them involved in drugs and all the ugly vices. I hope I've been successful in that way,'' Lavery told the judge.
