Sheriff: KY woman arrested after children found with duct tape over their mouths, noses

WAYNE COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office reports that a woman was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after two children were found with duct tape “across their mouths and nose areas.”

According to the sheriff’s office, they received a complaint from dispatch that a woman was reportedly “screaming at and yanking on a child while being parked in the back parking lot of the Wayne County Judicial Center.”

The sheriff’s office, along with the Monticello Police Department, responded to the area and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle as it was leaving the parking lot.

According to the sheriff’s office, when officers made contact, they found four children, two of which had duct tape across their faces.

The sheriff’s office says that officers immediately removed the tape, and while interviewing the woman, she reportedly stated that “it was her children and she could discipline her children however she wanted, and this act was routinely done.”

As a result, the sheriff’s office says that Anna Benscome was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree strangulation (domestic violence), two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

According to the sheriff’s office, Benscome was booked in the Wayne County Detention Center, and an investigation has been opened with the Kentucky Department of Child Protection Cabinet.