HOUSTON – A Houston mother is accused of severely whipping her 11-year-old child and not feeding him properly.
Gia Gentry has been charged with injury to a child, a felony.
According to court documents, on January 11, an employee with HISD noticed several marks on the boy at school and reported it to police. The child was taken to the hospital, where doctors determined the marks were made from several instances of abuse.
The boy told police that his mother had whipped him with a belt, an extension cord and a pole almost every day throughout the past year.
Investigators talked to Gentry, who admitted to causing the marks on her son’s body. She said she whipped him with a belt and a towel rod from the bathroom because he kept getting in trouble at school.
The boy’s teacher, though, told officers that he had never misbehaved and she “only has to tell him one time to do something and he does it.” The principal at the school said the child had never been to her office for a discipline issue.
Police also noticed marks on the victim’s sister’s arm and ankles. She told officers they’d also been caused by Gentry.
Gentry told police that she was in the wrong and was trying to become a better parent.
Her bail was at $5,000.
