Mom Explains Why She Pressure-Washed Kid !!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: WESH.com
March 6, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A mother who was videotaped while spraying her 2 1/2-year-old daughter with a high-pressure water hose at an Orlando car wash told authorities she did it because the child was throwing a tantrum.

She told authorities she did not have the hose on full blast, and she said that it isn't as bad as it looks.

The mother said she had used this type of punishment before with a spray bottle.

The mother saw herself on TV late Thursday afternoon and called deputies. She called deputies and said they could come to her apartment to speak with her and see her daughter.

Marlene Diaz, a manager at Magical Car Wash, said she has never seen this type of abuse before.

"You don't do that to a kid," Diaz said. "No child deserves that."

The video showed the child trying to hide her face while the woman pinned her to a wall and sprayed her at close range.

"Disgusted," Diaz said. "I'm mad, infuriated as to how someone could do that to a little child."

Officials said the water shoots out of the hoses with a force of about 1,200 pounds per square inch, powerful enough to create the type of friction and sting from a rug burn.

"Your skin gets red, and at times it could peel," Diaz said.

"That's a pressure washer; that's meant to be used on a car, not on a child," mother Carol Felicicano said.

Diaz didn't see what happened until she checked the surveillance tapes, but she said she heard the girl crying after the mother stopped spraying her.

Diaz said she also heard the mother say, "You're going to learn to respect me. You don't treat me bad. You don't mistreat me; I'm your mother."

Surveillance cameras showed the mother stripped the girl, leaving her standing in the car wash bay naked, while she grabbed a towel and put her back in the car.

The Department of Children and Families said the child was taken to a medical facility for an evaluation.

The child was examined by the Child's Protection Team nurse practitioner and found to have no visible injuries.

DCF did not remove the child from the residence.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office Child Abuse detectives are still investigating the criminal portion of this case to determine the proper course of action.

Sgt. John Allen said Thursday night that the investigation would continue Friday.

Investigators said the mother could face child abuse charges.