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Hidden cam Facebook post leads to abuse arrest

Posted at 4:53 PM, Dec 03, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-03 16:53:53-05

SALEM, Ind. -- A woman was arrested for abusing her children after the kids' father set up a hidden camera to capture an incident and posted it to Facebook.

Indiana State Police say the investigation began when Trooper Brett Walters watched the video at the Salem Police Department, where the father had brought it, claiming to have set up a hidden camera on his suspicion that his two children were being abused by their mother, Kendra Beswick, 24, of Salem, Ind.

After interviewing the father and investigating, Beswick was arrested Dec. 2 on charges of battery on a child under the age of 14.

We spoke with the father, Steven Corthorn, who says every day he would leave his three young kids at home with their mother (Beswick), and nearly every day, they would be hurt when he got home.

"I had asked her if she knew, and her response was, 'I don't know how they're getting hurt,'" Corthorn said. "So I said, 'Well, there's something in the house hurting them. I tried multiple things to kid-proof everything, and my final step was, 'Let's put these camera up. Let's see what's really going on.'"

He says he never expected to see Beswick beating on two of his smaller kids.

"I was really hurt that my kids were going through that while I was at work," He said.

After Beswick tried to move out and take the kids with her, Corthorn said he felt he had to get the video out there. That's when he posted the video to Facebook.

Indiana State Police say if you ever see a video like that on social media, you should report it.

"The thing that does bother us, in a sense, is that people who were seeing the video (on Facebook) didn't flood us with complaints here at the Indiana State Police post," Sgt. Jerry Goodin said. 

Beswick remains at the Washington County Jail.

Corthorn tells us he took the kids to the doctor to make sure their injuries were checked out.

The investigation into the incident continues. 


A screenshot of the recorded video.

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