Parents Arrested for Forcing Kid to Run Laps: Cops

Police said the mother and father forced their daughter to run 30 laps a day with nothing to drink

A mother and a father are in jail after they allegedly forced their daughter to run laps with nothing to drink and made her stand on one leg for two hours as punishment, officials said.

The 10-year-old girl also told police her parents forced her and her six-month-old brother to sleep on the floor, Michael Dunn, public information officer for Temple Terrace Police Department told NBC 6.

He said the girl was an apparent victim of child abuse after she told police that her parents made her hold a weight for two hours while standing on one leg as punishment.

William Joseph Frederick, 33, and Suzanne E. Frederick, 31, both of Temple Terrace, face child abuse and child neglect charges, according to the Hillsborough County Jail. William Frederick is also being charged with failure to report a fire. Both are being held with no bail.

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Dunn said police arrived to the apartment complex around 8 p.m. Tuesday after they received a report of a distressed child wandering in the lot.

Authorities said the girl lit a small fire in her apartment prior to police arriving because she was frustrated. When her parents returned, they put out the fire but did not call the fire department, officials said.

When police arrived, they questioned the girl and her parents and found a six-month-old baby in the closet.

The Department of Children and Families took custody of both children.

It was not immediately known if the Fredericks had an attorney.

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