A 30-year-old New Jersey mother named Kimberly Cruz-Feliciano was arrested and charged with child abuse after she allegedly forced her own child to wear a dog shock collar. Reportedly, the collar, which belonged to a dead family dog, caused visible marks on the child's body, whose age and gender remain unknown.
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According to WPVI, the arrest came about after the child arrived at Cape May City Elementary School on March 17. Given this fact, the child's age range would be 5 to 10 years old. Quickly, school authorities noticed that the child had marks on their body. Police investigators found out that the injuries that the child had sustained were caused by a shock collar. Said collar, as previously stated, belonged to a family's dead dog.
A criminal complaint obtained by the outlet revealed that the child wore the shock collar all the time while at home. Moreover, the child "was kept in a bedroom" alongside other times belonging to the dead dog. Allegedly, Cruz-Feliciano shocked her child when they "did not listen," and further threatened the victim with further violent retaliation should they tell anyone about the abuse.
Family Abuse
Neighbors were flabbergasted over the allegations. They claim that authorities had been called on the house before. However, they never suspected such an alleged abuse could have been taking place inside the home.
"It's just sad. I hate to hear something like that, I really do. And it's right here in the neighborhood, and I did not know that," one neighbor told WPVI.
Kimberly Cruz-Feliciano reportedly admitted to using the dog shock collar on her child. As per the Daily Voice, she was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of first-degree witness tampering with threat of force, and one count of third-degree hindering.
Additionally, Cruz-Feliciano's mother, Sonia Feliciano, 59, was charged with fourth-degree tampering with evidence and hindering. Sonia was released from custody before her court hearing, on a summons.
Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland addressed the case in a statement. "We take all allegations of child abuse with the utmost seriousness," Sutherland said, according to NBC 10. "We will continue to ensure that those responsible for such heinous acts are held fully accountable under the law."
