It's a real grey area where that line is and community standards can often dictate where that line is and create a problematic blurry line for the parents. Of course the safest thing to do for parents is not to use corporal punishment, but in many states, that is still their right.
For example, in Oklahoma, here is a uniform jury instruction given in all child abuse jury trials:
Quote:
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It is not child abuse for a parent to use ordinary force to discipline a child, including, but not limited to, spanking, switching, or paddling.
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So it is a question of fact for the jury as to whether ordinary force was used and you are going to find that jurors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, many of which are not going to think there was more than ordinary force (because they got it worse from their parents).
I am actually surprised this child is not in state custody because we clearly have a case where if criminal child abuse did occur, the mother is probably a mandated reporter and she failed to protect her child on at least one other occasion.