A 47-year-old mother in Florida was arrested this week after she was allegedly caught on surveillance footage ripping her 6-year-old son from the back seat of her car, striking him with a car seat she’d thrown at him, and then tossing him to the ground and repeatedly slapping him.
Pamela Gaensel was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of child abuse without causing great bodily harm, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to an arrest report obtained by Miami Fox affiliate WSVN, it occurred in front of a residence in the 10500 block of Sunset Strip in Sunrise, Florida. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the alleged beating took place in front of Gaensel’s home.
Pamela Gaensel (Broward County Sheriff’s Office)
The report states that a neighbor’s home surveillance camera caught the altercation. It reportedly showed Gaensel getting out of her car and going to the back seat where her 6-year-old son was sitting. Her other two young children, ages 7 and 3, were reportedly also in the car.
Gaensel first opened the door to the back seat and pulled the 6-year-old from the vehicle, WSVN reported. She then reportedly ripped both the booster seat and car seat from the back and flung them at the boy, which struck him. She then reportedly threw the boy to the ground and slapped him in the face and back, authorities said.
After viewing the footage, the neighbor reportedly called the Sunrise Police Department and reported it. Police spoke with the boy about the alleged attack and reportedly noted he had injuries consistent with being repeatedly slapped, authorities said. The officers waited for Gaensel to arrive at the school to pick up the child and took her into custody without incident.
Gaensel made her first appearance in Broward County Circuit Court on Thursday, Miami NBC affiliate WTVJ reported.
Prosecutors said Gaensel initially pulled the victim from the car by his hair before throwing him down onto the sidewalk. She then threw the booster seat, striking the child in the leg. Gaensel reportedly put the child back in the car but pulled him out again. Then she struck him in the face and back, the report states. On the surveillance footage, the child could be heard crying and begging his mother to stop.
Gaensel reportedly told authorities that she was only disciplining her son after he had unhooked the strap on his car seat.
Following the court appearance, a judge set Gaensel’s bond at $5,000. She posted the amount and was released.
The judge ordered Gaensel to have no contact with her son until the state’s Department of Children and Families permits her. That agency is investigating the incident. The victim and his two siblings have reportedly been placed in the care of their father.
The police department and court clerk did not immediately respond to messages from Law&Crime.
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