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Police: Girl, 4, found zip-tied, beaten thought her name was ‘Idiot’

HOT SPRINGS, AR (WCMH/AP) – Police have arrested a Hot Springs, Arkansas, couple on battery and abuse charges for allegedly zip-tying a 4-year-old girl to her bed as punishment.

Clarence Reed, 47, and the child’s mother, Jennifer Denen, 30, both of Hot Springs, Ark., are now charged with domestic battery, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering welfare of a minor. A police report says officers were summoned to the Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center after workers there determined the child had been abused.

A police report says the girl had bruises, a black eye, scars and ligature marks on her wrists.

The Sentinel-Record reports the child is now in state custody. The mother and boyfriend remain in the Garland County Jail Tuesday.

According to the Washington Post, when a police officer asked the girl what her name was, she said, “Idiot.” Police later discovered Reed regularly called the child “Idiot” instead of using her actual name.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.