INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 45-year-old woman is suspected of beating a boy with a bat after an argument about removing a frog from a home, deputies said.
The boy, 14, had swelling and bruising on his right hand and left thigh, an arrest report shows. He was not seriously injured.
Katherine Renee Allen, of the 4200 block of 20th Avenue, Gifford, was charged with aggravated child abuse. She was released Friday on her own recognizance.
Deputies responded to a disturbance about 9 a.m. Thursday at Allen’s home. Allen told deputies she and the teenager had just gotten into an argument.
Deputies asked Allen if the argument got physical. She told them the teen bumped into her, so she pushed him down in a chair, an arrest report shows.
Allen said she told the teen to “get out of my house and don’t come back.” He left the home and got on the school bus.
Deputies spoke with the teenager at the school, who said Allen became angry with him after he refused to remove a frog from their home. The two began yelling at each other when Allen and the teen both walked into another room.
Allen picked up a bat and began swinging it at the teen, an arrest report shows. She swung the bat two or three times, hitting him in the right hand and left thigh.
Allen then told the teenager to leave the home.
School staff spoke with the woman about the incident. She admitted she picked up a bat and swung it several times at the teen, but wasn’t sure if she hit him, an arrest report shows.
Emergency service crews examined the teen’s injuries and determined he did not need immediate medical care. Staff notified the Department of Children and Families.
Allen was arrested and taken to the county jail for booking. She has a court arraignment at 8:30 a.m. May 9, court records show.
