Teens were 'laughing hysterically' as they terrorized 1-year-old with a Taser, cops say

Three teenage girls were arrested after Arkansas police say they terrorized a 1-year-old baby with a Taser.

The baby's mother called police July 9 and told a responding officer that she saw a Snapchat video of the girls "laughing hysterically while taunting the baby girl with a Taser." The baby was screaming out in "uncontrollable fear" and one of the teens hit the child in the head, according to a news release from the Conway Police Department.

"In the video, you can see and hear the electric prongs on the Taser lighting up," Officer Brittani A. Little wrote in a police report obtained by Arkansas Online. Police say a laughing emoji was used on the Snapchat video.

Little also wrote that the baby seemed to be "out of breath from crying so hard," according to Arkansas Online.

"The baby’s mother had been made aware of the video and sought treatment for the child at the hospital, where she contacted police," according to the Conway Police Department. "The mother stated the teens had been responsible for babysitting the child and that she had been unaware of the alleged abuse prior to seeing the video."

Medical professionals examined the baby but found no signs of injury, police say. The girls were arrested and charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. They were booked into the Faulkner County Juvenile Detention Center.

Two of the girls said they didn't see any "wrongdoing in their actions," a police report says, and they blamed the girl who posted the videos to Snapchat in the first place. Because they are underage, police didn't identify the teens, Arkansas Online reports.

It's not the first time police say child abuse has been uncovered because of a Snapchat video.

David Williams III, 24, was supposed to be watching his 15-month-old son while the baby's mother worked at her new job, according to the Gonzales Police Department. But police allege that during one day in late March, Williams duct-taped his child's wrists, ankles and mouth at his house in Louisiana — and posted a video of it on Snapchat.

He wrote in the video's caption that duct-taping is a way to discipline an "unruly" baby, police say. He was arrested in May and charged with felony cruelty to a juvenile.

This story was originally published July 10, 2018 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Teens were 'laughing hysterically' as they terrorized 1-year-old with a Taser, cops say."