JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local man and woman are in jail after being charged with child abuse and neglect.
Details from an arrest report show that Nicole Bennett and her friend Ronald McKinney punished Bennett’s son by putting his hands in a hot oven and hitting him with a bat.
According to the arrest report, the boy told police he was being punished for stealing McKinney’s shoes.
The report goes on to say the child was punched in the mouth and chest by McKinney. When Bennett got home, Bennett and McKinney turned on the oven to the highest temperature.
The boy told police both of his hands were placed in the oven, with Bennet holding one of them against the interior of the oven’s door.
Nikki Pembleton is a mother of two and said she can’t imagine doing such a thing.
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“I can’t even believe that kind of thing happened,” she said. “There are better ways to discipline your children than to burn them.”
After it happened, the boy said he was told to take a shower and then go outside and wait on the porch. He said he slept outside all night because Bennet wouldn’t allow him back in until the morning.
The report says police noticed blisters on the child’s right and left hand, injuries to the left side of his face, a bump on his head and a busted lip.
“I couldn’t imagine even a reason for someone to do that kind of thing to their kid,” Pembleton said.
McKinney also admitted to punching the child in the chest twice, but denied punching him in the mouth and holding his hand in the oven.
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