Mom Forces 5-Year-Old to Smoke Cigarette and Run Continuously

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (CBS/AP) An East Tennessee woman is accused of forcing her 5-year-old son to smoke a cigarette, to teach him a lesson. But now authorities intend to teach the mother a lesson, by charging her with child abuse.

Carter County Deputy Cory Tidwell said that in response to a complaint by a witness, he stopped Jordan Paige Hensley in a car, and she told him she had forced her son to smoke a cigarette because "she was teaching him not to smoke."

Tidwell told the Johnson City Press that the 24-year-old Hensley was arrested Tuesday night on charges of child abuse and neglect, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana.

JohnsonCityPress.com reported that in addition to the cigarette incident, Tidwell said he also saw the child running around and his mother screaming at him to keep running. He stated the child fell to the ground screaming that he couldn't keep running, but his mother jerked him up and ordered him to keep on going.

Hensley was being held on a $12,500 bond.