A Florida mother is accused of child abuse for allegedly striking her children and encouraging one to hit their sibling with a belt, authorities said.
Authorities discovered the alleged abuse in the Tampa suburb of Seffner when they were called to the home of Karyn Parrish, 28, on Tuesday for a welfare check.
"It is absolutely gut-wrenching and incomprehensible to have a case like this, where a mother would inflict such horrifying treatment on her own children," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister in a statement. "My heart aches for these two young and innocent children. As Your Sheriff, I promise you that our team will not rest until we ensure that all the children in our community are safe."
Deputies, along with an investigator from the Department of Child and Families, met with Parrish and asked to speak with her two children. One of the children, under the age of 5, allegedly showed signs of distress, shaking and crying.
During their visit, the deputies noticed a bruise on one child's cheek nearly two inches in size, the sheriff's office said.
"Maybe my mom," the child said when asked how they got the bruise. "Maybe she was slapping me around. She doesn't remember. Mommy tells her she doesn't remember things."
Parish admitted to slapping the child at least three times, authorities said. On her phone, deputies found videos of her telling one of her children to hit another with a belt.
"Hit harder. Hit hard, baby," she allegedly ordered one child in a video. "Beat the crap out of the sly devil."
Another video showed Parrish allegedly telling her child that they were going to be tortured, and that if they died, so be it, authorities said.
She is charged with child abuse and is being held in the Orient Road Jail. The children were taken from the home and are being cared for by a relative.