This boggles the mind. An Irvine, California couple  suspected their 15-year-old son was smoking because they found a lighter in his clothes. Their solution? They hired Paul Kim, a man who is often delegated the task of disciplining the children of the couple’s fellow churchgoers.

He does not have a light touch.

The parents dropped the boy off at Kim’s home to be beaten.  The church enforcer repeatedly hit the child on his legs with a metal pole about an inch in diameter  a dozen times, causing severe bruising.  An adult at the boy’s school saw the bruises and called Irvine police, who informed San Bernardino County officials. They in turn arrested Kim, who faces a felony charge of willful cruelty to a child.  Investigators believe Kim has been used in this way by other families in the congregation, and asked for victims and witnesses to come forward.

Neither the name of the church nor the identity of the boy’s parents have been made public, but a few things can be determined with some certainty. To begin with, that’s one sick congregation.

I am fascinated, however, with how many ethical principles the parents have shattered here. Trust…responsibility…accountability (they will not even handle the discipline of their own child!)…fairness…kindness…respect…and, of course, citizenship. They are cowardly, and they are cruel. There are worse parents, I know.

But how many of them belong to a church full of like-minded abusers?

It wasn’t immediately known whether Kim had hired an attorney. A message left at a Chino Hills listing with his name was not returned Saturday.