Police: Mother beats child with belt for jumping on bed | Crime

Winter Haven, Florida -- A Winter Haven mother was arrested Thursday after police say she beat her 4-year-old son with a belt across his stomach, legs, arms and face because he jumped on a bed.

According to the Winter Haven Police Department, on May 2, around 6 p.m., a neighbor called police after the boy, covered in welts and bruises, was found walking around the Villas of Lake Smart apartment complex alone.

Officers arrived and the boy was taken by ambulance to Winter Haven Hospital where his mother, Sheila Renee Smith, later met up with him.

Detectives interviewed Smith who told them she hit him with a belt about 12 times for jumping on the bed. She also told them instead of leaning him over her knee, she hits him while he's standing.

Police say the child's injuries, including those on his face and back, were consistent with him trying to shield himself from being hit.

Smith told detectives she left him at the apartment to go to the store after he cried himself to sleep. When she got back, she found out he had been taken to the hospital.

The boy was released from the hospital and turned over to a family member. Smith has three other children.

She is being charged with Aggravated Child Abuse and Child Neglect.