Background: The Wayne County Justice Center in Monticello, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: Anna Bencosme (Wayne County Detention Center).
A mother in Kentucky is accused of duct-taping her children's mouths and noses because they were apparently being unruly and admitting that she used this punishment often.
Anna Bencosme, 28, has been charged with two counts of first-degree strangulation related to domestic violence, two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office announced. She was booked into the Wayne County Detention Center on Tuesday.
On that day at about 3:20 p.m., Bencosme was parked in the back parking lot of the Wayne County Justice Center in Monticello, Kentucky, authorities state. Someone called 911 saying she was "screaming" and "yanking on a child."
Deputies and officers with the Monticello Police Department responded, and as Bencosme's vehicle started pulling out of the lot, Sheriff Tim Catron and two deputies pulled her over.
Inside the vehicle, a deputy "located four children with two of them having duct tape being placed across their mouths and nose areas," the sheriff's office stated, noting that the deputy "immediately removed the duct tape from the children."
The law enforcement officers interviewed the mother — during which she allegedly "stated it was her children and she could discipline her children however she wanted and this act was routinely done."
Bencosme was arrested and booked into jail on $10,000 bond. The children were placed in the custody of their father.
The sheriff's office said the investigation is ongoing. State child protection workers were also contacted and they opened up an investigation "into all the children's wellbeing."
It is unclear when Bencosme is due to appear in court.
Monticello is a small city in southern Kentucky about 150 miles south of Louisville.
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