Mum 'branded daughters with hot stick'

A 23-year-old mum branded her two young children with a burning hot stick so she could tell them apart from other children, Florida police claim.

Kayla Oxenham was charged with child abuse after allegedly heating up the stick with a cigarette lighter to burn the skin of her 5- and 7-year-old daughters in March, WFTV reports.

The mum was reported to police when day care staff noticed the young girls had scabs on their bodies.

The children say their mother burned them so she could recognise them and promised them ice cream after the branding was done, police claim.

The children told investigators their mum said she "forgot how much she loved fire" during the alleged attack.

The 7-year-old also said it was not the first case of domestic abuse with Oxenham once allegedly bashing one of the children's heads against a wall as punishment for locking a cat in the bathroom.

Oxenham refused to answer questions about the alleged assault and has been released on bail.

Source: Fox 4
Author: Matthew Henry. Approving editor: Simon Black.