A Memphis, Tennessee mother and her fiancée have been arrested after her son was found with severe injuries.
According to WREG, the 24-year-old mother, Jaquan Stokes, and her 24-year-old fiancée Raven Porter admitted to the abuse while talking with police.
On Tuesday, November 6, the 5-year-old child was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where he was discovered to have “a swollen left arm, a swollen forehead, bruising to his eyes, and abrasions to his left arm and jaw.”
Doctors also revealed that the boy had sustained “extensive bruising, including welts and loop marks on his chest, back, backside, legs, and thighs.” The young child was also found to have elevated levels of creatine kinase, which as the Mayo Clinic reports, can be caused by “strenuous exercise or intramuscular injections.”
When question by authorities, Stokes told the Shelby County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office that she and Porter would strip her son and whip him with a switch, an extension cord, paddle, or belt multiple times a week.
As WREG reports, Stokes also admitted that they would force the young boy to do intense exercises as punishment.
According to AJC, those exercises included “pushups, squats and running drills when he misbehaved.”
His most recent punishment came on November 5 when he received an “S” for conduct at school instead of an “E.”
Stokes reportedly undressed her son down to his underwear and used a wooden paddle to “whip” him.
Now, both Stokes and Porter have been charged with aggravated child abuse. It remains unclear if the couple posted bail.
Authorities have not released how the 5-year-old got to the hospital. Doctors say the injuries found on the child are both new and old.