Mom charged with burning son's tongue, forcing him to stand in ant bed

A Houston woman accused of burning her 6-year-old son's tongue with a hot spoon and forcing him to stand in an ant bed has been arrested on four charges of injury to a child.

Jessica Ann Mungia, 26, remained Saturday in the Harris County Jail on a total of $60,000 bond, following her July 11 arrest.

She is accused of injury to a child on multiple occasions between Jan. 1 and May 22 at her home in northeast Houston.

According to the arrest warrant, Mungia took her son to LBJ Hospital on May 22 for a possible broken left arm. A nurse discovered that, in addition to the broken arm, the boy also had numerous bruises on his body, a healing burn wound on his left hand, a burn wound on his tongue and lacerations on top of his head, the complaint stated.

A nurse and doctor who examined the boy on May 31 said that he attributed most of his injuries to his mother and said he was afraid of her.

He said his mother twisted his arm and broke it but told him to lie when he went to the hospital and say the injury happened when he fell off a table, the arrest warrant states.

The boy explained a scar on his scalp by saying, "My mom hit me with a screwdriver."

When shown a photo of his burned tongue and asked how he got it, the boy said, "My mom burned it."

He said Mungia heated a spoon on the stove until it was red hot and then put it on his tongue, the complaint states. She also burned his left hand with the hot spoon and held his hand to the hot stove, he said. Later, she put salt on the boy's burned tongue, according to court documents.

Regarding ant bites on his feet and legs, the boy said his mother made him stand in an ant pile for "about an hour," records state.

Marks on his chin and neck happened when his mother choked him, and a scar on his right arm came from a knife wound his mother inflicted, the boy told an interviewer, according to court records.

Mungia is scheduled to appear July 15 in the 208th State District Court.