DALE COUNTY, Ala (WDHN) — An Alabama couple is behind bars after deputies say they burned and abused three young children.

According to the Dale County Sheriff’s Office, investigators and the Department of Human Resources recently received reports of an abuse case involving three children under 12 in Ariton.

Lt. Caroline Jackson says during an investigation, they discovered that 27-year-old Ashleigh Ableman and her boyfriend, 53-year-old Howard Anderson, had burned Ableman’s three children with a blowtorch several times.

Lt. Jackson tells NewsNation affiliate WDHN the burns were severe, and the children had signs of other kinds of abuse.

On Oct. 5, DCSO deputies executed a search warrant at a home in Ariton and arrested Ableman and Anderson. They are both charged with one count of torture/wilful abuse of a child.

Anderson and Ableman are currently held in the Dale County Jail without bond pending a first appearance. The investigation is still ongoing.