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Two Year Old Power-Washed by Mom; Video and "Mom" Turn My Stomach

By Lenora Murdock, published Mar 07, 2008
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According to the Orlando Sentinel, a February 24 incident in which Niurka "Nicki" Ramirez hosed down her 2 ½ year-old for having a temper tantrum has been resolved with felony child abuse charges and the arrest of 22 year-old Ramirez.

MSNBC.com shows a disturbing video of Nicki Ramirez, angered at her 2 ½ year old daughter, power-washing her at The Magical Car Wash, in Orlando, Florida. The incident was caught by surveillance cameras and witnessed by a car wash employee.

According to a Today Show interview, the car wash employee saw the car pull into the bay. It was not long until the employee heard the child screaming. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Ramirez was hosing the child down with a power-washer. The child was blasted in the face, head, and chest.

Following the surface of the surveillance video on television, Ms. Ramirez turned herself in to the Orange County police Thursday, March 6. After being questioned for the second time, Friday, March 7, Ramirez was arrested and charged with felony child abuse, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The video is sickening and disturbing. It shows the girl being hosed down, stripped of her clothes, wrapped in a towel, and placed back in the vehicle. According to another woman on the scene, the child was not hurt by the power-washing. To test the veracity of that statement I think Ms. Ramirez should be taken out to the Magic Car Wash for a power-shower.

Authorities affirm the 2 ½ year old showed no visible signs of injury when she was found, eleven days after the incident. According to the Sentinel, Ms. Ramirez arrest warrant states that there could have been "redness, welts, and bruising" immediately after the incident. I have little doubt that she was injured. I have washed the skin off of my leg with a power washer. It felt like millions of pieces of sand pelting my leg.

A police representative told the Today Show, this "an unusual means of punishment." There's the understatement of the year.

 
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As a former owner of a power washing business, and therefore very knowledgeable about power washers, I happen to know that the power washers used in car washes use about 1000 psi, or 1000 lbs. of pressure per square inch when the trigger is depressed. If the trigger isn't depressed it's about 250 psi. What makes a big difference, in fact, all of the difference, is how close the tip of the sprayer is to the surface being sprayed. If that child had been sprayed with the trigger depressed, as close as she was sprayed as I viewed it in the video, the child more-than-likely would have had broken skin on her still two days later. It's my opinion that the sprayer wasn't depressed. Nevertheless, the mother over-reacted to the child more-than-likely not letting her know that she had to go to the bathroom, and using it in the back seat of the car. Children can be traumitized by incidents seemingly as simple as this. They're to be treated with gentle care.

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Posted on 03/19/2008 at 11:03:34 AM

 
Please see the complete thought here http://helphealmotherearth.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!36FC9AA74A084039!209.entry

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Posted on 03/18/2008 at 4:03:40 AM

 
March 18 Mom accused of abusing daughter with car wash power spray speaks out Educators Resources For Todays Learners Homeschooling is life changing You call this child abuse? Copyright © 2008 Mother Earth Lover All rights reserved I call it self restrains and keeping control on Niurka Ramirez's behalf!I watched the video of Niurka Ramirez spraying that child. I didn't see one thing wrong with what she did. Ok , for those of you who feel that she did something wrong, let me ask you....... Do you feel like she did something wrong, with the action she took, because of the kind of attachment that was on the hose? What would you have done? I can see where this paranoid and corrupt society would be able to imagine that Niurka had pulled the trigger and harmed the child by increasing the pressure of the water. But SHE DIDN'T! The pressure from the spray coming out when your not pressing the trigger isn't enough to harm human skin. I feel like Niurka was

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Posted on 03/18/2008 at 4:03:24 AM

 
Only a psycho would use a PRESSURE SPRAYER as a squirt gun...and that some nuts do that doesn't make it ok to do to a LITTLE GIRL. She was sprayed right in the face; it could have caused damage to her eyes, and she could have choked on the water or inhaled it. The poor child was terrified, and it took incredible cruelty to do that to her.

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Posted on 03/15/2008 at 12:03:48 PM

 
This is so sad. What is wrong with parents these days? I just don't understand anymore. Sad, so very sad. Great reporting!

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Posted on 03/10/2008 at 9:03:45 PM

 
To Auk below. The authorities didn't see the child until numerous days later. If you watch the video and the news report the eye witness said the hose was not on light spray it was on power spray. Why not step out and get hosed down yourself and see how it feels. This is a horrendous thing to do. I can't believe anyone who saw the video could make that comment. But thanks, Auk, for reading and giving your opinion. I'm just stunned!

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Posted on 03/10/2008 at 8:03:51 PM

 
I saw a brief synopses on this and wanted to scream at the woman. Geez, who is that stupid? Sorry, but there is no other way to put it.

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Posted on 03/10/2008 at 5:03:05 PM

 
That's nuts. Great reporting. I'll pass on the video.

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Posted on 03/10/2008 at 5:03:13 AM

 
I saw a quick clip of this on the news. I had no idea the child was only 2 1/2. That makes it even more horrible. Great write up of this terrible event.

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Posted on 03/09/2008 at 7:03:03 PM

 
Wow! How terrible some people can be

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Posted on 03/09/2008 at 5:03:23 PM

 
Good for you, it's so important that as a community, we continue to express outrage against any kind injustice.

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Posted on 03/09/2008 at 3:03:14 PM

 
Excellent coverage! That's not just abuse that's pure INSANITY! I think they should check out that guy's kids who thinks it's just UNUSUAL. I am sickened that she is pregnant. I pray some deserving couple gets to adopt that baby, and her other child. If they go to her family, chances are the same type of abuse will occur. This type of abuse doesn't come out of nowhere, it's usually learned within the family!

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Posted on 03/09/2008 at 2:03:29 PM

 
How pathetic. You follow in with the frenzy. People use those like squirt guns on hot summer days. The child was not even harmed. It is sensationalized garbage and your just an echo.

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Posted on 03/09/2008 at 11:03:42 AM

 
This was shocking to see, good job telling about the abusive choice of this mother.

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Posted on 03/08/2008 at 11:03:17 PM

 
I don't think I could watch the video-how sad

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Posted on 03/08/2008 at 11:03:43 PM

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