Dad Grounds Daughter, Daughter Sues, Daughter Wins

Ottawa, Canada (AHN) - A 12-year-old girl took her dad to court after he grounded her for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet. And she won.

The father banned his daughter from going on a school trip after she used a friend's computer to chat on websites he had blocked at home, and then posted pictures of herself online that her dad considered inappropriate.

Neither the father or his daughter have been identified to protect the girl.

With the help of a public defender, the girl sued her father. Quebec Superior Court Justice Suzanne Tessier noted that the girl had repeated defied her father, but ruled that the father's punishement was too severe.

Attorney Kim Beaudoin, who represented the father, told Agence France-Presse that "I think most children respect their parents and would never go so far as to take them to court, but it's clear that some would and we have to ask ourselves how far this will go."

Beaudoin said she was appealing the judge's order.