BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — A mother and father are facing abuse charges after their daughter was seen being beaten and suffocated in a video recording sent to authorities, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office told WCPO 9 on Monday.
Carleena Webb, 33, was charged with one count of criminal abuse in the first degree. Her husband, 36-year-old Shaun Webb, faces 10 charges of criminal abuse in the first degree.
The report of child abuse at the Webbs’ home was made Aug. 21. An out-of-state family member sent deputies video of a man physically abusing his 3-month-old daughter. The video, which recorded events Aug. 19, shows Shaun Webb slapping and suffocating the child, according to the sheriff’s office.
“They’re as bad as they sound,” Major Philip Ridgell with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. “I’ve had a lot of parents personally reach out to me that just can’t really comprehend and quite honestly, most people can’t.”
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The sheriff’s office said the video captured Webb’s 2-year-old son being present in the room while the abuse unfolded. As the investigation continued, detectives learned that Carleena Webb returned from work and confronted her husband after seeing the abuse take place on camera; however, she went back to work after the confrontation, leaving the children in his care.
“The only silver lining in all of this is that those children have since been removed from that horrific abusive environment,” Ridgell told WCPO. “We’ve had them medically assessed. There’s no apparent medical issues that we’re aware of right now.”
Carleena Webb did not contact authorities to report the abuse, nor did she seek medical treatment for her daughter, according to the sheriff’s office. When questioned by detectives, Shaun Webb said he previously suffocated his now 2-year-old son on multiple occasions while he was an infant.
“It grabs a hold of you, and I think that this would be really one of those cases that will and has grabbed a hold of us all,” Ridgell said.
Webb told detectives that children are “like a dog, you have to train them and set boundaries,” according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office. He said he was covering his daughter’s mouth and nose “not to cause harm, but to deprive her of oxygen.”
Both Carleena and Shaun Webb are being held at the Boone County Jail. Both suspects are being held on a $500,000 bond.
Boone County Sheriff's Office details 'horrific abusive environment' after arrest of Northern Kentucky parents – WCPO 9 News
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