14 DAY TRIAL // A Tempe, Arizona, woman was charged with child abuse after allegedly forcing her boyfriend's three-year-old daughter to eat her own excrements as punishment.
Police say Nicole Renee Candelaria was arrested on Saturday and booked into the Tempe City Jail, after the young victim told her mother what happened. The girl also said that her father's girlfriend held her down on toilet seat and put soap in her mouth.
Apparently, Candelaria lives with her boyfriend and she often takes care of her partner's three children while he is at work. On Friday, she reportedly grew angry when one of the girls defecated in the bathtub. So, as a disciplinary measure, the 27-year-old woman forced the toddler to eat her own feces.
When the three sisters returned to their mother's home, the girl complained about Nicole's behavior. The woman took her daughter to a local hospital, where doctors noticed bruising on her chest, back, sides and legs, according to court documents.
Police say Candelaria denied the accusations brought against her, but the child's story was corroborated by her 3-year-old twin and their 5-year-old sister, Daily Mail reports.
During the woman's initial court appearance on Monday, a judge set her bond at $5,400 (€3,950). She is due back in court on May 23.