Mother And Boyfriend Handcuff Kids Together And Abuse Them With Electric Shocks; Arrested

A Utah couple was arrested for handcuffing two children and using electric shocks to "discipline" them. Ogden city police reviewed security footage of the couple shocking the children before the arrests.

The mother of the children, Mercedes Compton, and her boyfriend, Jared Hamilton, were captured in security footage shocking Compton’s 6-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son Saturday, according to AP News. Arrest records revealed that the accused, both aged 29, used an “electronic shocking device” on the children’s backs and arms.

Cops said the 5-year-old “violently pulled his arm away from the device” when Hamilton used it on the boy. The child tried but failed to get away from Hamilton "because he was handcuffed to his 6-year-old sister,” KSLTV reported.

The footage goes on to show Hamilton restraining the 6-year-old girl by grabbing her arm and then “touching her with the electric shock device on the back,” police said.

The children’s mother then took the electronic shocking device from her boyfriend and used it on her children. She “was waving it around in front of both of the kids before reaching out and touching the 5-year-old child with it,” investigators revealed in court documents.

The daughter reached out and stopped her mother from using the device on her. Although she tried to escape, she could not because of the handcuffs, police said.

Both Compton and Hamilton were arrested late Saturday night on two charges of child abuse with the intention to inflict serious physical injury, according to ABC4. The couple was detained Tuesday without bail.

A similar incident in New Jersey led to the arrests of three women earlier this month after a 13-year-old girl showed up at her neighbor’s house with an electric dog collar. The neighbor, Karen Villec, called 911 after the girl arrived at her doorstep. Investigators spoke to the child and were told that she was forced to wear the electric dog collar and would be shocked by three female relatives — Kelly Mennig, Rachel Mennig and Rebecca Mennig. All three were arrested.