what's considered abusing a child in the state of California?

That could be considered abuse. If you've spoken to the person and they have refused help, you should contact your local California Social Services branch, for the good of the child.

You should not be speaking to the person, you should be calling the police.

If the child has finger marks, bruising, those are criminal and child abuse offenses! Call the police, who will take the child to the hospital and document the bruising.

In addition, all abuse has an emotional abuse component, but nothing will be done until someone reports them, and the best time is if you see the act and you notice welts or red-marks that will turn to bruises in between a few hours or a day!

Often you can see finger marks on their faces.

Also keep a notebook of every date, interaction, what you saw, whether you saw marks. They add up!

That is the issue I have with corporal punishment. Aside from the fact that all you do is be a role model that 150 lbs adults can pound children, and that it circumvents a child's normal development of conscience as they PAID for the act, most of it is criminal. Those who tell me that they practice it without any anger, who are usually out of control, for almost all of the most part, full of it!

Face it, most kids get hit out of anger! And when you lose control, for instance for a baby crying, and shake it to death, you have a real issue! And they do it every single day!

Report it!

Call child protective folks and let them do their thing. Or, if you're not quite ready to do that, call this national hotline number and chat with a counselor: 800-422-4453 and push #1.

you really do not want to know...hello, this is perv land.