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A young mother has been charged with child abuse after abandoning her eight-month-old baby in a freezer.
The incident happened in Johncity, Tennessee, USA.
Brittany C. Smith is accused of putting the infant into the unused freezer and closing the lid.
A resident who witnessed the incident reported seeing the 19-year-old mother holding a small child near the unused freezer in the back yard of a property that wasn’t hers.
The resident went outside to speak to Smith and found her in the crawlspace under the home, according to an affidavit obtained by WJHL-TV.
Neighbours are believed to have opened the freezer and found the baby inside, with an inch of water at the bottom.
The baby was taken to a hospital, but no condition has been released.
Smith also has been charged with offences that include neglect.