LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida teenager was arrested on a felony child abuse charge Friday after she allegedly recorded herself putting a marijuana cigarette in a child’s mouth, according to deputies.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said the teenager from Largo was babysitting a one-year-old belonging to a sixteen-year-old friend of hers.
Deputies said when they responded to a report of child abuse at the teen’s home in unincorporated Largo, the seventeen-year-old admitted to smoking marijuana around the child, but denied giving the child the cigarette.
However, according to the sheriff’s office, detectives were able to find a video that the babysitter recorded showing her putting the cigarette in the one-year-old’s mouth.
“The victim then inhales while the lit marijuana cigarette is in their mouth, and the embers begin to glow brighter,” a release from the sheriff’s office states. “(The teen) then takes the marijuana cigarette out of the mouth of the one-year-old victim and places it into her own mouth, and inhales, causing the embers to glow brighter.”
Detectives said when they interviewed the teenager again Friday, she admitted to her actions but did not explain why she put the marijuana cigarette in the child’s mouth.
The suspect was taken to the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center after being arrested. Due to her age, Nexstar’s WFLA will not be sharing her name.
