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A Florida mother has been arrested and charged with child abuse after she allegedly branded her two children with hot sticks, so she could always tell they were hers.
According to a police report, 23-year-old Kayla R. Oxenham, of Port Charlotte, heated up a stick using a lighter and branded her 5-and-7-year-old daughters.
Oxenham, who is believed to be a medical assistant, was arrested on child neglect charges, even though the actual branding incident happened months ago.
Although the incident was reported to the Florida Department of Children and Families when staff at the local day care first reported the abuse, the criminal investigation lasted several months.
Officials with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office were trying to collect sufficient evidence to build a solid case.
WFTX reported that staff at the little girls’ day care had come across the matching scabbed branding marks and immediately contacted police.
When investigators asked the two little girls how they got the scabs, they openly admitted that their mother had branded them, so she could distinguish them from one another.
One of the young girls told police that their mother had told them what she planned on doing beforehand and bribed them by promising to take them for ice cream.
She told investigators that her mother kept talking about how she “forgot how much she loved fire” while she was branding them.
Police said the 7-year-old admitted this was not the first time their mother had hurt them.
She said Oxenham was enraged at the 5-year-old for locking the cat in the bathroom, so she repeatedly slammed the little girl’s head into a wall as what she believed to be a fitting punishment.
Oxenham, who does not have a criminal history, denied ever hurting her daughters.
However, she did admit to branding them for identification purposes, even highlighting that the abuse was perfectly fine, since she rewarded them with ice cream.
According to NBC 2, she has already made bail on $15,000 bond.
Following her arrest, Oxenham’s daughters were removed from her home and placed into protective custody.
