SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. – A Volusia County mom accused of punching her son in the face so hard it dislocated his jaw for refusing to stop playing video games is now facing child abuse charges, according to police.
On Wednesday, Anna Perugia, 35, was arrested at her home in South Daytona. Fox32 found, that according to a police report, Perugia had ordered her son to stop playing ‘Fortnite’ and gave him ten minutes to take a shower. When ten minutes had passed, Perugia asked her son whether he’d showered, to which he simply replied “no.”
The report states:
“He got up and started towards the bathroom and that is when his mother got irate and charged into the bathroom,
“When the two got into the bathroom, (he) stated that she punched him with a closed fist in the jaw which dislocated his jaw and caused great pain.”
After the incident took place, the boy, 10, was able to call his father to extract him from his mother’s home.
The father, upon seeing his son’s condition, decided to press charges for child abuse against Perugia.
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In the report, Perugia told police that after the boy had refused to shower after being told a second time, “the mother stated he stomped his feet into the bathroom so she followed him and asked what his attitude was for and he replied to her, ‘I hate you and you don’t do anything for me!'”
Perugia does not mention punching the boy, but only grabbing his arm to prevent him from leaving.
The report continues:
“The child also had scratches around his body that were caused by the mother,
“This malicious act also caused her son unjustifiable pain and injury. This act has no valid reason to subject the child to that kind of punishment for failing to listen to his mother.”
The mother, Perugia, was placed in jail after her arrest.
As the father does not have full custody of the boy, the boy is currently under the care of an aunt.
