A 33-year-old Miami-Dade County mother faces a third-degree felony child abuse charge after deputies said she hit her 5-year-old son and covered his bruises with makeup so he could go to school.
According to a deputy’s report, Claudia Gonzalez struck the boy on the right side of his face multiple times on Sunday night. The next morning, she sent him to school with makeup on his face. Because the bruising was still visible, the deputy wrote, Gonzalez told the boy to say he got hurt while playfighting with his twin brother if anyone asked. She warned him that the school would otherwise call police.
Deputies arrested Gonzalez at 5 p.m. Monday at the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Hammocks District Station, the arrest report said. Miami-Dade corrections booked her at 7 p.m. that day at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center near Doral, according to inmate records.
Gonzalez faces one count of child abuse without great bodily harm. Her bond is set at $2,500.
