A mother has been charged with child abuse after allegedly being captured on camera throwing her 6-year-old son out of her car by his hair and hurling a booster seat at him in a brutal incident in Sunrise on Wednesday.
The incident occurred just after 3 p.m. on the side of the road off Sunset Strip and 105th Lane.
According to state prosecutors, 47-year-old Pamela Gaensel asserted that she was disciplining her child by spanking him. However, the attack resulted in marks on the boy’s back from slapping and multiple bruises on his face, arm, and palms.
Surveillance cameras in the area recorded audio of Gaensel yelling obscenities at her son and the sounds of her slapping him on the side of the road, as per police reports.
Authorities noted that during the attack, Gaensel placed the child back into the car before throwing him to the ground a second time. At this point, the boy was reportedly crying and pleading for his mother to stop.
Sunrise police confirmed the allegations after a nearby home captured the entire incident on surveillance video.
Gaensel, facing one count of child abuse without great bodily harm, appeared in Broward bond court on Thursday. The judge set her bond at $5,000, which she promptly posted.
Upon release, Gaensel covered her face and declined to respond to the allegations against her. She has been ordered not to have contact with her son unless permitted by the Florida Department of Children and Families, currently investigating the case.
Following Gaensel’s arrest, all three children were handed over to their father, according to her arrest report.
