Florida mom arrested over video that allegedly shows her beating 6-year-old son over unclipped car seat

A Florida mom was arrested and charged over a video that allegedly showed her beating her young son because he unclipped his car seat.

Pamela Gladys Gaensel, 47, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with child abuse without great bodily harm, NBC Miami reported.

She appeared in court Thursday, where prosecutors alleged she was caught on camera slapping her six-year-old son enough to leave him with bruises, the outlet continued.

Gaensel was seen pulling the child from her car by his hair on Tuesday before throwing him on the sidewalk and then tossing the booster seat at him, the prosecutors said, according to WESH. 

Audible slapping sounds were apparently caught on surveillance cameras when Gaensel put the boy back in the car before dragging him out again, the outlet explained.

She was then allegedly seen throwing items over her son’s head and into a nearby yard, only for the boy to go retrieve them himself.

The boy was crying and begging his mother to stop during the ordeal, NBC Miami said.

Gaensel’s two other children – ages 7 and 3 – were inside the SUV during the alleged beating, WSVN added.

The police were tipped off by an unidentified caller, which prompted them to visit Gaensel’s son at school where they observed marks on his body, the outlet said.

Gaensel was subsequently detained by officers when she went to pick up the child from school.

She later told police that she was disciplining her son after he unhooked his car seat.

“When law enforcement examined the child and saw that the child had marks on his back from being slapped, marks and bruises on the child’s face, arms and palms,” Assistant State Prosecutor Eric Linder told the outlet.

Ms. Gaensel claimed that this was essentially an act of discipline, noting that she only spanked the child,” he continued.

“I would imagine Ms. Gaensel did not realize, and this also goes to the strength of the evidence, that there appears to be a private homeowner, some individual that had closed circuit cameras [that] recorded the entire incident.” 

Gaensel was released on $5,000 bond, WSVN noted.

Her three children are now in the care of their father.