Video: Teenage Girls Put Baby in Fridge

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Summary: Two teenage girls are facing child endangerment and assault charges after a video was posted to social media showing them putting a baby in a fridge.

A video surfaced on Snapchat of two teenage girls placing a young infant inside a refrigerator and then closing the door in the city of Danvers. The mother of the eight-month-old baby was unaware of the incident until a police officer showed her the video. “I was traumatized by it. My eyes were bulging out of my face,” the baby’s mother said.

  

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The juveniles are not named because of their age but the mother told WBZ-TV that one of the girls was her 15-year-old niece. They are facing serious charges for their actions. The video appears to show the girls laughing as they closed the door to the fridge with the baby laying sideways on a shelf inside. The baby can be heard screaming inside the fridge. After a few minutes, the girls remove the baby from the fridge, laughing and saying, “See she’s OK.”

The baby’s mother said she left her baby with her niece and 14-year-old friend while she went to shower, leaving them alone with the baby for about 30 minutes. “I didn’t understand why they would do that,” the baby’s mother said. “I didn’t know and they didn’t tell me. I was very angry.”

The girls had an explanation for their actions that was very “believable.” They claim that they were reaching into the fridge to get a bottle for the baby to stop the baby from crying. This doesn’t explain why they would close the door on the baby.

The girls have been charged with child endangerment and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. They were arraigned in Essex Juvenile Court in Salem and released to their parents. They claim that they did what they did as a joke and not to harm the baby.

The baby was not injured from the incident but the mother explains that she is uncomfortable leaving her baby with anyone now. She said, “It was their stupidity. I feel like they learned a lesson and would never do it again. My niece is a goodhearted girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

The Department of Children and Families, Danvers Police and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office are investigating further.

The incident may not seem like such a big deal but refrigerator and freezers are air-tight devices when closed, meaning there is a very limited supply of oxygen. Fridges are kept at or below 40 degrees. A baby exposed to this temperature without proper clothing. According to the National Weather Service, it takes just 36 minutes for frostbite to occur in 40-degree temperatures. For a baby, it would likely take much less time.

Do you think the girls should be punished? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about child endangerment, read these articles:

• Police Release Shocking Photo of Drug Overdosed Couple
• Mother Uses Trunk of Corvette as Child Seat
• Katt Williams Arrested and Jailed on Child Endangerment Charges

Photo: flickr.com