Ebony Gonzalez (Harris County Jail).
A Texas mother is facing child abuse charges after she allegedly beat her four kids with a dog leash and turned on a gas stove and threatened to burn their hair if they didn’t admit to leaving a tissue on the floor at their home.
Ebony Gonzalez, 31, stands accused of four counts of injury to a child. Court records show the alleged abuse occurred on Wednesday morning at their home in Katy, a Houston suburb. A probable cause arrest affidavit says Gonzalez became upset when there was a tissue on the floor and none of her four children, ages 11, 11, 8 and 6, would confess to dropping it.
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Cops allege she beat each one with a dog leash. Then, she threatened to put their heads on a stove top and burn their hair, the affidavit said. The investigation began when one of the “terrified” kids passed a note to a friend that detailed the alleged abuse. The friend then alerted authorities, cops said.
Detectives took the kids into protective custody and interviewed them. Two of the kids had red welts and bruises on their upper back, cops noted. A third alleged her mother pulled her hair and kicked her. The fourth child did not want to speak with investigators but had visible marks, the affidavit said.
Gonzalez was arrested and taken to the Harris County Jail where she has since posted a $10,000 bond for each charge. Her next court date is scheduled for Thursday. She was appointed an attorney.
The defendant cannot have any unsupervised contact with her children. Local ABC affiliate KTRK reports the children are with their grandmother. Child Protective Services are investigating the matter.
