A year after a 30-year-old Orange Park woman turned herself in on child abuse charges, court documents are revealing more details about the case involving two young children.
Clay County court records show Kristina Worley, 30, is charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse, which is a first-degree felony. Her trial is coming up in a couple of months.
The biological mother of the two children now has custody of them and says they are traumatized.
She told News4Jax last week that she felt now was the appropriate time to publicly comment on the case after a year of thinking about what her daughters went through.
“The oldest, she is getting tons of therapy. I’m constantly on the phone monthly, if not twice a week. The youngest is getting professional help as well,” said the children’s biological mother, who News4Jax chose not to name to protect the identities of her children. “The more I just sit at home and think about it every night I realize how much of an impact it’s had on my children’s lives, my life and everybody close to them.”
According to details in court documents that were not made public a year ago, Worley, who investigators identified as a family member of the children, is accused of using a stun gun on the older child and threatening to use the stun gun on the younger child.
“I don’t understand why someone would do that,” the children’s biological mother said.
The children’s father told detectives he was aware the girls were threatened with a stun gun but had no knowledge of the weapon being used on one of his children, according to court documents.
Court documents also state the children were physically punished for leaving their bedroom before 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and 9:30 a.m. on weekends.
According to court documents, punishment included hitting the children with enough force to leave visible marks for several days and binding the children together for periods of up to 15 minutes.
Court documents also show the girls were medically examined and interviewed by the First Coast Child Protection Team. According to the team, statements by the children were considered credible and their injuries were consistent with physical abuse.
Worley is out of jail on bond. News4Jax left a voicemail for her attorney to request a statement but had not received a response as of publication.