Mother accused of branding her children for identification purposes

A woman from Port Charlotte, Florida, has been charged with child abuse, after police say she intentionally burned her two young children with a hot stick so she would know they were hers.

Kayla R. Oxenham, 23, has bonded out of jail. According to a police report, the children are 5-years-old and 7-years-old. They told authorities that Oxenham told them she "forgot how much she loved fire."



The children told police that Oxenham proceeded to use a lighter to burn a stick and injured the children's arms by touching the hot stick to them. Then, Oxenham told the kids she burned them for two reasons: the first is so the kids could have ice cream, and the second was to identify the children as being hers.

Medical exams for the children showed at least one of them had injuries indicative of the burning. Prior to the burning incident, Oxenham is accused of grabbing her 5-year-old by the hair and hitting her head into a wall repeatedly. She declined to talk to police about the alleged burns, and denied beating her children. Oxenham's occupation listed on the Charlotte County Jail Web site is medical assistant.

With news video.