Inset: Celie Placius (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Palm Beach County Jail (Google Maps).
A 43-year-old woman in Florida has been arrested for allegedly burning a young girl’s arm with a hot iron, telling the child that she no longer loved her in the process.
Celie Placius was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, records reviewed by Law&Crime show. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Palm Springs Police Department at about 4 p.m. on April 24, 2025, responded to a call regarding possible child abuse at a day care center. Employees at the day care had filed a report regarding a child with a burn mark to her lower right forearm that appeared suspicious.
Police were able to make contact with Placius — whose relationship to the child is redacted — to inquire about the apparent burn injury. When questioned, Placius allegedly claimed to have “no knowledge of what happened” to the girl, but later claimed she may have suffered the injury when playing with her friends or siblings.
However, police say Placius later revised her statement and said she had been ironing clothes while the child was nearby and had to “step away” briefly. When she returned, Placius said she “observed a sticky substance on the side of the iron.” The child said she had used the iron on her folder, per Placius, but she did not have an observable injury, the report says.
Police conducted an in-person interview with the child at about 6:30 p.m. that evening where she allegedly provided a starkly different series of events. The victim said she had been eating dinner the previous night and then started playing with her brothers before bed before things went awry.
“Placius then used a hot clothes iron to burn [the victim’s] right forearm in two different places while stating, ‘I’m not your friend and I don’t love you anymore’ to [the victim],” the affidavit states. “Placius later applied cream to the wound to make it better.”
The child — whom experts noted was able to tell the difference between a truth and a lie — said that Placius burned her while she was sitting at the dining room table and that she also used the iron to burn the child’s school folder. Police said the burn mark on the girl’s forearm appeared to be “new and bubbling.”
Another injury to the child’s hand appeared to also be a burn mark but seemed to have had more time to heal, police said.
In a subsequent interview with investigators, Placius allegedly contradicted herself several times regarding whether she knew the child’s injury was a burn, whether she applied cream or ointment to help the wound heal, and whether she had ever seen the victim pick up or play with the clothes iron.
After being read her Miranda rights, Placius allegedly remained steadfast that she had nothing to do with the girl’s injury.
“The injury to [the victim’s] right arm and hand do not appear to be accidental in nature or self inflicted,” police determined. “The two burn marks appear to be from prolonged exposure to a high degree of heat causing significant damage which would likely result in great bodily harm or permanent disfigurement.”
Placius was taken into custody and transported to the Palm Beach County Jail for processing. She is currently being held on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court again on May 27, 2025, records show.
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