CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two women were arrested and jailed on felony child abuse charges after the children of one of the women were hit with a pair of metal knuckles in their home, Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant said Saturday.
The children were hospitalized with serious injuries Friday, Whisenant said in a Sheriff’s Office Facebook post.
An anonymous complaint led to the arrests of Connelly Springs residents Natalie “Shane” Childress, 25, and the children’s mother, 26-year-old Jessica Renee Sanders, Whisenant said.
Sanders told Child Protective Services investigators who showed up at the women’s home on Gold Creek Road that her children weren’t there, the sheriff said.
But deputies found them “hiding at the scene,” according to the sheriff’s Facebook post.
Whisenant hasn’t said how many children were hurt or released their ages.
The children were taken to UNC Health Valdese and then to a child trauma center, according to the post.. Their conditions were unavailable Saturday.
Childress and Sanders were in the Burke County Jail on $250,000 secured bonds Saturday pending court appearances on Monday, jail records showed.
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