ORANGE CITY, Fla. – An Orange City mother was taken into custody after authorities said she encouraged her son to start a fight with another child in the neighborhood then jumped into the altercation herself.
Volusia County deputies arrested Jamie Gensler just before 11 p.m. Friday after responding to reports of a physical fight near a home on the 1600 block of 19th street in Orange City.
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The victim was walking toward Benham Avenue when Gensler confronted him, according to an arrest report. Gensler shouted at the child about pushing over a basketball hoop the night before and then called for her son to come out of the house to fight the victim. Her son complied, deputies said.
Authorities said the two children do not attend the same school.
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As Gensler’s son started smacking the victim, Gensler guided him through the fight, advising her child to hit him in the “balls and gut,” records show. Gensler then jumped into the fight, punching the victim in the head and slapping him when the child tried to get up off the ground, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said neighbors recorded the fight on cellphone video, confirming the 35-year-old provoked the fight, adding that the victim’s injuries were consistent with a fight describing a large abrasion on his forehead above his right eye.
When investigators questioned Gensler, they noted the knuckles of her left hand were bruised, records show. During questioning, Gensler said the victim and his friends had been trying to entice her son to fight throughout the day and her son eventually agreed to it, according to an arrest report. Deputies said Gensler admitted to providing instructions as the fight was happening in her presence.
Gensler faces charges of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.