Toddler made to eat hot sauce; 2 at day care arrested

— Prosecutors have charged two day care workers with child abuse after police said they put habanero hot sauce on a toddler’s plate of green beans and laughed as the boy screamed while eating his meal.

The Tulsa World reports that Tracy Owens and Rosie Hicks were charged with child abuse by injury last week in Okfuskee County District Court.

Okemah Police Chief Ed Smith Jr. says another day care worker had taken a special interest in the toddler and the women were allegedly jealous.

An affidavit says a videotape shows the 13-month-old child crying while Hicks was laughing.

Neither woman had a listed telephone number or an attorney listed on court records. A woman who answered the phone at the Muscogee Creek Nation Child Development Center declined to comment.

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