PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix mother and stepfather are accused of hitting her 7-year-old son with a metal pipe for eating chips at daycare.
Authorities say 26-year-old Franchesca Lourdes Ann Castro and 25-year-old Jay Philip Cason were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child abuse.
They both had their initial court appearances Thursday and face April 8 preliminary hearings. Neither has a lawyer yet.
Phoenix Fire Department officials responded Tuesday morning to a report of a boy with severe injuries to his back.
Police were called and officers say the boy had extreme swelling, bleeding, missing skin and bruising on his buttocks, lower back, hands and legs.
Castro and Cason allegedly became upset and struck the child after he returned home from daycare with the empty chip bag in his jacket pocket.
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