Wentzville Mom Spanked Kids With Belt, Wooden Paddle, Police Say

A Wentzville woman was charged with spanking her children with a belt and a wooden paddle, leaving bruises on their thighs.

Betty Gage, 45, of the 1300 block of Meadow Ridge in , was charged Aug. 10 with two counts of child abuse.

said in a report that Gage used a belt with a metal buckle and a hand-carved wooden paddle to spank the children on April 13, “causing significant injuries including bruising on the children’s thighs.”

Although three days lapsed between the incident and discovery of the injuries, “two children had a clear imprint of the belt used on their thighs,” police said in the report.

The children are ages 10, 7 and 5 years old.

Bond was set at $1,000.