Mother Charged After Video Shows Alleged Child Abuse: Police

MIDDLE RIVER, MD — A woman who said she recorded herself slapping two of her children to try to get her husband to come home and take care of them is being held without bail, police said Tuesday.

Rachel Marie Pietro, 26, of the unit block of Cool Breeze Drive in Middle River, has been charged with two counts of second-degree child abuse and two counts of second-degree assault.

Police said that officers responded to her home at 1:26 a.m. on Thursday, March 16, after multiple concerned citizens sent law enforcement a video showing Pietro hitting a 5-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, threatening to beat them to death.

Note: The video may be too graphic and disturbing for some viewers.

Related: Disturbing Video Opens Child Abuse Investigation In Baltimore County

Once officers spoke with Pietro and her husband, they opened a case with the Crimes Against Children Unit.

Although Pietro at first told authorities the video was two years old, investigators determined it was made in the past two months.

"She said she recorded the video because she hoped it would encourage her husband to come home and take care of her," police said in a statement. "She also said she was angry with the children."

Authorities documented minor injuries on one of the children and reported that all three of Pietro's kids — a 5-year-old boy, 6-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy who was not shown in the video — were taken to the Department of Social Services and later put in the care of family members.

Members of the warrant apprehension task force arrested Pietro Tuesday morning at a location in Essex, and police said she was being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

Photo Credit: Baltimore County Police Department.