A mother allegedly threw her 10-month-old child against a fence after being upset with the baby for not standing up. According to local reports Sunday, the mother also hurled a rake head at the baby but it did not strike the child.

Police in Florida's Pinellas Park were called to the 5900 block of 72nd Avenue on Saturday night after two juveniles reported witnessing Natalee Sesler abusing the child. The 25-year-old woman of New Port Richey allegedly become frustrated because the 10-month-old was unable to stand, and threw the child against a wooden fence in a nearby yard. She the allegedly threw a metal rake head at the child, missing him, and then picked up the crying baby by the leg and threw him on a lawn chair.

Police said that when they arrived at the scene, they found the baby had a small bruise and swelling near one of his eyes. They also said the child appeared malnourished and lethargic. The baby was wearing only a shirt with no pants or diaper on. Sesler was also wearing only a shirt at the time police made contact with her, local media reported.

The child was taken into protective custody, then to a local hospital for medical treatment.

"The baby will remain at the hospital for observation and further testing, before being turned over to other local family members by the Department of Children and Families," police said in a news release.

Sessler was arrested and charged with one count of child abuse, one count of child neglect, aggravated assault, resisting an officer without violence and violation of probation. According to preliminary investigation, narcotics appeared to have played a role in her behavior leading up to her arrest.

baby
This is a representational image of a baby at Fort Stewart, Georgia, July 17, 2003. Getty Images/Stephen Morton

In a child abuse case that took place in March, a 31-year-old man from Lake Villa Township, Illinois, was arrested for allegedly biting his 10-month-old daughter because she wouldn’t go to sleep. Police said the man, identified as Daniel K. Martin, was being held on a $50,000 bail. Martin was responsible “for biting the child out of anger because the baby would not fall asleep,” Sgt. Christopher Covelli said in a statement released by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at the time.

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