DOCUMENT: Stupid, Crime

Nitwit Mother Arrested For "Prank" Video

Woman, 30, recorded girl licking tongue depressor

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Florida Licker

JULY 11--The Florida Mother who recorded her young daughter licking a tongue depressor and then returning it to a jar in a dentist’s office was arrested today on a felony tampering charge.

Cori Ward, 30, was busted in connection with a video she posted to her Snapchat account. The clip was then copied and posted to Facebook, where it went viral and drew the attention of law enforcement.

The video opens with a closeup of a sign reading “Please do not touch medical supplies!” Ward then records her 10-year-old child taking a tongue depressor from a jar, licking it, and returning it to the container.

The Snapchat post included the caption “Don’t tell me how to live my life.”

Ward, seen in the above mug shot, recorded her child in an exam room at the All About Kids and Families Medical Center in Jacksonville. Upon learning of the video, center officials said they disposed of medical supplies in the room, which they then sanitized.

In a TV interview this week, Ward--who was not identified in the broadcast--said, “I had just been waiting a long time. I was just being silly with my kids.” She added, “I feel like this is not even real and if I could go back and change it, I definitely would.”

Charged with tampering with a consumer product without regard for possible death or bodily injury, Ward was booked into the county jail in advance of a court appearance tomorrow morning. (2 pages)