Barbara Cypress, Turlock, California mother arrested after egging her 13 year old daughter to hi another child after school. Video goes viral after victim’s mother, Irina Lizarraga Acuna posts video on Facebook.
A California mother has been arrested after video surfacing (see below) of her egging on her 13 year old daughter to hit another child last week.
Barbara Christine Cypress, 40, was booked on a slew of charges that included false imprisonment and child abuse, Fox 40 reported. Her daughter was charged with battery, SF Gate reported.
The mother’s arrest follows video captured her appearing to hold a teenage girl so her daughter could punch the teen at Columbia Park in Turlock, Friday afternoon. The fight occurred after the students finished their classes at Turlock Junior High School, officials said.
The victim claims Cypress’ daughter bullying her, leading to her confronted the girl on the school bus in an effort to get her to stop, cops said. The fight began after both teens arrived at a local park.
The victim told SF Gate that’s when Cypress ‘came out of nowhere’ and told her daughter to hit her.
‘Hit her. It’s after school, it’s after school,’ Cypress is heard yelling in the video. ‘You can’t get in trouble.’
Victim’s mother Facebook post: ‘Someone please help me identify her!’
Posted victim’s mother, Irina Lizarraga Acuna on Facebook since viewed 270K times: ‘Alongside the brief video, the victim‘s mother Acuna wrote: “This mom holds my daughter while her daughter hits her at their bus stop! Someone please help me identify her! Share please!!!!! I don’t even have words to explain how I feel right now this bullying needs to stop please.’
Acuna speaking to FOX40 says she doesn’t blame the child for hitting her daughter – but blames Cypress for egging her on.
‘In the video, you can see that the teenager doesn’t even want to hit my daughter. She’s being forced by her mom to hit her,’ she told Fox 40.
‘You know, I’m not even mad, I can’t be mad at the teenager. I’m mad at the mom. How could you force your daughter to hit someone else?’
Acuna said she wishes her daughter hadn’t confronted the girl on the school bus.
‘My daughter told her, ‘Stop talking about me. Leave me alone. Stop, you know, calling me names,” Acuna told the station. ‘And told the girl she wasn’t afraid of her, to leave her alone, and this is when everything else started.’
Even though the fight happened off campus, the students involved in the incident can still face dispensary action, the school said in a statement.
‘Like most who have viewed this video, we were appalled by this attack. We have identified those shown in the video and have shared this information with the Turlock Police Department who are conducting an investigation,’ read the statement.
