Mother ‘tied son, 7, up and stubbed out cigarettes on his face’

Tosha Martin-Henning and new husband Joshua Henning have both been charged with felony child abuse

A mother was branded one of the worst child abusers police had ever seen after allegedly stubbing out cigarettes on her young son’s face. Tosha Martin-Henning, 26, reportedly tortured her seven year-old boy with husband Joshua Henning, 30, leaving the youngster covered in cuts, burns and bruises.

Martin-Henning, from Mansfield in Ohio, was arrested alongside her spouse on Saturday after her son’s grandma Lola Martin called police on seeing the injuries the youngster had sustained. She told police that on picking the boy up, ‘he had visible bruising to his body, cigarette burns to his face and cuts to his wrist.’

Lola reportedly grilled her daughter about the youngster’s wounds, with Martin-Henning said to have admitted to grabbing him by the wrists. During a subsequent interview, the boy told police how his mother had tied him up so Henning could punch him in the chest. Martin-Henning describes herself as a widow on her Facebook profile. She married Henning last month, and it is unclear whether he is Joshua’s biological father.

According to the Akron Beacon-Journal, social worker Staci Shaw visited the boy while he was receiving treatment, and found he ‘had a ruptured left ear drum, a hematoma, cigarette burns to his face, deep cuts to his wrist and bruising to his entire body.’

A doctor who treated the youngster said his injuries were ‘definitely child abuse.’ Mansfield Police Captain Shari Robertson said: ‘This is one of the worst child abuse cases I have seen and I give credit to our detectives and patrol officers who worked together in an effort to quickly take those responsible, into custody.’

Martin-Henning and Henning both face charges of felonious assault. Henning also has charges pending over a separate domestic violence allegation.