Indiana woman beat disabled son for opening Christmas gifts early: police

An Indiana woman was charged this week after she allegedly beat her two sons for opening their Christmas gifts too early.

Greenfield police said that 36-year-old Sascha D. Collins' sons, ages 7 and 9, told investigators that they found the Christmas gifts hidden in their mom's closet and opened them, according to the Greenfield Reporter.

The boys said that their mother flew into a rage when she woke up and discovered that the gifts had been unwrapped. They indicated Collins threw them against the wall and beat them with a belt. One of the boys reportedly suffers from a mental disability.

A teen daughter told police that her mother began drinking late Saturday, and then snorted half of a crushed hydrocodone pill before falling asleep around 5 a.m. on Sunday. The girl returned home at around 10 a.m. to find her brothers in intense pain.

Collins admitted to police that she "just lost it" and "went overboard." But the mother insisted that her sons had caused many of the marks on their bodies by fighting with each other. She said that she had no recollection of beating them with a belt, and that she believed she hit them with a plastic spoon.

Collins was charged with one count of battery to a person under the age of 14 and one count of battery to a disabled person. She pleaded not guilty to the charges during a Tuesday court appearance. Each of the charges carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

Watch the video report below from WTTV.