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Katrina Kennedy-Flores: Viral Video Of Denver Mother’s Horrific Abuse Of 2-Year-Old Son Leads To Her Arrest

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 17:28 PST, May 19, 2016

Katrina Kennedy-Flores is under arrest after a viral video appeared to show the Denver mother subjecting her two-year-old son to horrific abuse, including repeatedly slamming a booster seat into him.

Video of the abuse was shared on Facebook this week and quickly went viral, with a copy of it being posted to YouTube and garnering more than a million views. In the video, a woman whom police identified as Kennedy-Flores can be seen berating and threatening her toddler son, who cowered in fear.

After yelling at the boy for not finding her phone charger, the woman threatened to kill the boy and then began to beat him with a plastic chair as he screamed in pain.

The full 16-minute video can be seen below, but be warned that it contains disturbing images and is not suitable for sensitive viewers.

The video led to a public outrage and caught the attention of police. On Wednesday, they arrested 27-year-old Katrina Kennedy-Flores on two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, Denver Channel reported. The boy has also been taken into protective custody, police said.

The horrific video of the Denver mother abusing her child led to outrage online and even prompted the Colorado Department of Human Services to respond publicly, assuring people who saw the brutal video that the child was now safe.

“The Lochbuie Police Department has announced that an arrest has been made and the child is safe in protective custody. To protect the confidentiality of children and families potentially involved, and in accordance with Colorado statute, we cannot comment further. However, we deeply appreciate the outpouring of concern from Coloradans.

Many people also turned their anger toward the woman who filmed the video, who can be seen briefly at the beginning. The woman, who has been identified only as Sue, said she is disabled and was not able to stop the abuse or call police.

The woman added that she was terrified of Katrina Kennedy-Flores.

“I was only trying to help. I know everybody’s seen (it), and everybody’s making it like I’m a monster for recording it, but they don’t understand the situation and the circumstances,” she told 9 News in Denver.

But Sue also ended up being cited by police for child abuse, with investigators noting that she waited more than a week before disclosing the video.

The child abuse video had actually been around for some time longer, Denver Channel report noted, with police first learning about it on May 9. The person who uploaded the video to YouTube explained that the video was shared to them privately, but the person moved quickly to save a copy before it could be deleted.

The uploader went on to explain that the mother seen abusing her two-year-old in the viral video is suffering from mental health disorders and is in desperate need of help.

The mother should have a very hard time getting her child back. She needs a lot of help. she is obviously mentally sick, she has problems that need to be addressed and fixed unfortunately she’s going to miss the very fun and gracious wonderful years of this boy’s life because of her actions.

Investigators who interviewed Katrina Kennedy-Flores said the mother took responsibility for her abuse and said, “I lost my temper and I know I’m wrong.” Social services has investigated the woman in the past, Denver Channel noted.

Katrina Kennedy-Flores remains in jail on $3,000 bond and has been ordered not to have contact with the victim seen in the viral abuse video.

[Image via Lochbuie police]

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