HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Fla. — A Highlands County, Florida, mother could face a child abuse charge after posting a video to Facebook that shows a rat snake biting her 1-year-old daughter.
The mother said that she has "no regrets" after she let the snake intentionally bite the child several times, WFTS reports.
"It had bitten me and my son and didn't leave a mark, several times," she said to WFTS. "So, I thought it was a good opportunity to introduce her without actually getting hurt."
The Facebook video has been removed.
On Tuesday, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said there is probable cause the mother violated the state child abuse statute. Officials said the case has now been forwarded to the state attorney's office for review.
In the video the mother holds up a container with a rat snake inside and lets her daughter reach toward the snake. You can hear the daughter flinch and cry each time the snake strikes her.
The mother said her daughter was not hurt because the snake has teeth “too small to actually puncture the skin,” WFTS reports. Her intention was to teach her child a “valuable lesson” on how to handle reptiles, she said to WFTS.
Read more here.
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/L2B3JY4NHFDM3ODUJ27QFFYCC4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ILMYAV5PCZDUHDYCDHPHKHMQ44.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/RTMVJMTUJNHK7HISHYIIGXKQKQ.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/GRZGPKEIUVHVFAVEGSOJSRA6JQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7YU6J4OETJCT3KYPWKMBCTLGKQ.jpg)