Mom, boyfriend put shock collar on 3-year-old to ‘rewire her brain,’ Oklahoma cops say

A 3-year-old girl was forced to wear a shock collar, beaten and fed food scraps by her Oklahoma mother and her boyfriend, according to media reports.

The mom contacted police last week and told authorities she was being held captive by her boyfriend, Gustus Pennington, according to KOTV-TV. She also detailed accounts of physical abuse by Pennington to her daughter, KOTV reported.

McClatchy News is not naming the mother to protect the identity of the child.

Rogers County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Pennington on charges that included abuse and assault and determined that the mother was also involved in the abuse, according to the Claremore Progress.

The mother was arrested Saturday, accused of abuse and enabling abuse, according to media reports. In text messages the sheriff’s office obtained, the mother told Pennington to use the shock collar on the young girl so it would “re-wire her brain,” according to 106.3 The Buzz. There were burn marks on the girl’s neck from the collar prongs, KJRH reported.

The mother told authorities that the abuse went on for six days after she and her daughter moved into Pennington’s residence near Collinsville, according to KJRH.

Collinsville is about 20 miles north of Tulsa.

The mother told police Pennington shocked her daughter so often “that he drained the battery in the collar,” according to the Claremore Progress. She said Pennington beat the girl with “a piece of wood” and made her daughter take long, cold showers, police said, according to KOKI-TV.

There were “multiple bruises of all colors” all over the girl’s back and her buttocks was also bruised and cut, KOKI reported.

“I don’t think anyone that has their hands on this deal can think of anything other than the fact that you got a 3-year-old little girl that was tortured,” Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton told KTUL.

The young girl was fed small scraps of food, police said, according to KOKI.

Walton said the mother wrote in text messages to Pennington that “he was the man of the house and she trusted his judgment,” KOTV reported.

Pennington was charged with kidnapping, assault, child abuse and possession of a controlled substance, Rogers County jail records show.

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 2:16 PM.