Girl licks medical tool, returns it to container; mother arrested

A mother was arrested and charged after her daughter licked a tongue depressor and put it back with other supplies in a medical center in Florida, United States.

A video of the incident surfaced online last Tuesday, July 9, showing the girl placing the licked tongue depressor back into a container of clean equipment.

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The video at the doctor’s office was posted to Facebook by a user who initially saw it on Snapchat; it has since been deleted, as per ABC affiliate First Coast News last Thursday, July 11.

Police arrested the girl’s mother, Cori E. Ward, on the same day, and charged her with tampering a consumer product without regard for possible death or bodily injury, as per report. She was released the next day, July 12 around 5:00 p.m.

The 30-year-old mother said it was not a choreographed prank nor was it inspired by a “licking challenge,” where people lick ice cream and return these to store shelves.

As per report, Ward defended herself on Facebook before deleting her account. She implied that the materials her child used in the video were all cleaned or discarded.

“I posted this on my personal Snapchat with my 20-something friends, where someone allowed another person to video it. I didn’t post it on Facebook or YouTube as a challenge or whatever,” the mother was quoted as saying.

Following the arrest, All About Kids and Families Medical Center, said in a statement that they removed all materials and containers from the room that the child was in. The whole facility was also sanitized. Ryan Arcadio/JB

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