Woman Arrested on Child Abuse Charges After Disturbing Allegations
A Marion County woman, identified as Betty Bennett, was arrested on charges of child abuse following a series of disturbing allegations involving a young child under her care.
According to a report by Detective K. Walton of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the incident came to light on July 19, 2024, when Deputy Desandre responded to a call concerning a possible case of child abuse. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) had already been alerted, and Investigator Alexis McClinton was on the scene when Deputy Desandre arrived.
The juvenile victim, whose identity is being protected due to their age, was interviewed at Kimberly’s Center by Case Coordinator Meghan Darling. The victim recounted a series of troubling events that allegedly took place on July 18, 2024. According to the victim, after getting into trouble at daycare, Bennett became angry and began yelling at her. The situation escalated when the child continued to kick despite being told to stop. The victim claimed that Bennett responded by grabbing her by the throat and choking her.
The victim also alleged that Bennett put her in the trunk of a vehicle, which caused further distress. During the drive home, the child stated she was choked again and thrown onto the bars of a bed once they arrived back at the house. The victim reported that Bennett scratched her back on a kitchen sink when she refused to eat her food, leaving visible marks. Additionally, the child claimed Bennett pushed her head into a table, resulting in a cut lip.
Photos taken by medical staff at Kimberly’s Center corroborated the victim’s injuries. The images revealed a dark grey circular mark inside the child’s bottom lip, redness, and slight bruising on her back, and multiple scratches around her neck and shoulders. These injuries were consistent with the victim’s account of the abuse.
Further interviews with daycare workers who initially noticed the injuries on the child provided additional support for the allegations. The daycare workers reported that the child had complained about being hurt by Bennett, and the scratches observed were consistent with the victim’s story.
Bennett, however, denied the allegations. In interviews with law enforcement, she insisted that the victim had been acting out, kicking the seats in her car, and that she had moved the child to the cargo area of the SUV to prevent her from breaking the windows. Bennett claimed that the marks on the child’s body were the result of the child rolling around in the back of the SUV or possibly from an incident at the daycare. She adamantly denied choking the child or causing the injuries observed by medical professionals.
Despite Bennett’s denials, the evidence collected by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office led to her arrest on child abuse charges.
