Teacher, 35, told students to 'cut themselves to rid their bodies of demons and then burn the open wounds'

Charged: Police say Danielle Harkins, 35, told half a dozen teens that they had demons inside them

A literacy teacher at a community center in St. Petersburg, Florida, is accused of encouraging her students to cut each other in a bizarre cleansing ritual.



Police say Danielle Harkins, 35, told half a dozen teens that they had demons inside them and the only way to get them out was to slice open their skin and then burn the wounds.



She was charged with child abuse and held in jail on $55,000, but police say the seven teenagers are still loyal to Harkins and they fear the teacher may have done much worse.

Harkins was a popular teacher at the Lealman Asian Neighborhood Family Center, according to The Tampa Bay Times , where she worked for about four years.



Police say that on Saturday, Harkins gathered six boys and one girl in a park near the St. Petersburg Pier. The group lit a small fire.



'There was apparently some chanting and then dancing around this fire that was taking place,' said police spokesman Mike Puetz to Fox .

The teens did not tell their parents about the incident and were reluctant to talk to officers about it as well. One of the teens, a 16-year-old boy, sent a text message about the incident to a friend, who then told the boy's parents. They immediately called the police.

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Gathering: Police say that on Saturday, Harkins gathered six boys and one girl in a park near the St. Petersburg Pier Jailed: She was charged with child abuse and held in jail on $55,000

Detectives said that two students were injured during the ritual, in which Harkins allegedly instructed the teens to cut each other.



'They would follow that up with some sort of cauterization of the wound to keep the evil spirits from getting back in to the body,' Mr Puetz said.



Teens told investigators that Harkins used a lighter to cauterize the cuts, but the wind blew it out. She then poured some sort of perfume on a student and lit him on fire, causing second degree burns, in an attempt to 'brand' him.



Scare: The teens did not tell their parents about the incident and were reluctant to talk to officers. Steven Chanthalima, 17, right, one of the students who attended the gathering, declined to discuss what happened

Another teen was cut on the neck with a broken bottle piece, police said, and then Harkins heated up a small key to close the wound.



'The kids that participated in this were rather loyal to her,' Mr Puetz said. 'There was a lot of reluctance in discussing some of these issues with us.'



Steven Chanthalima, 17, one of the students who attended the gathering, declined to discuss what happened.



'I'm okay,' he said to The Tampa Bay Times. 'I'm fine. All I know is she's in custody.'



Teacher: Harkins was a popular teacher at the Lealman Asian Neighborhood Family Center, pictured, where she worked for about four years. She was suspended without pay Ritual: Police spokesman Mike Puetz describes how Harkins poured some sort of perfume on a student and lit him on fire, causing second degree burns, in an attempt to 'brand' him

Harkins was suspended without pay from her position at the family center.



'We had no suspicion of any of this. It's bizarre.' Carolyn Chance, the center's administrator, said.



'She was a very good teacher, literacy specialist, very intelligent, she was very skilled. Just recently she started exploring religion, but I didn't know anything about demons or anything like that.'



Records show that Harkins recently divorced her husband George, with whom she has two children, a four-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. Their divorce was finalized June 1.



Lisa Cope, Harkins' next-door neighbor, said the teacher had recently taken an interest in extreme religious beliefs. 'She told me I was okay,' Ms Cope said to The Tampa Bay Times.

