A Maryland woman is facing felony child abuse charges for attacking a child who called her “fat” and referred to her as the Muppets character “Miss Piggy” on a plane.
Kristy Crampton was charged on Memorial Day following a vacation she took with her family to Disney World in Orlando, according to an arrest report cited by WFTV.
That day, she boarded a flight at Orlando-Sanford International Airport bound for Hagerstown, Maryland. But just before takeoff, a child seated next to her told her she couldn’t fit in her airplane seat, the police report states.
Witnesses told police that Crampton “began hitting the child with her fist,” and struck him on the head with a water bottle. Other passengers also reported that she “slammed” the child’s head into the airplane window.
The pilot called police to report a “disturbance,” but Crampton and her party had already deboarded the plane after the attack.
When officers caught up with Crampton, she claimed the child was “very rude” and “disrespectful” to her.
She told police that she took his phone after he called her “fat,” but he only continued to misbehave. After he allegedly pushed her arm off the armrest, she said that’s when she began “smacking” him.
Witnesses reported seeing the victim cover his head with his arms to try to block Crampton’s blows.
In their report, police say Crampton overstepped “typical disciplinary actions.”
One witness told police, “The woman was not correcting the child. She was abusing him,” adding that Crampton was “whipping the s— out of the kid.”
The cabin crew reportedly did not notice when the attack happened.
Police haven’t specified the relationship between the child and Crampton, but say both were part of the same group that went to Disney. The child’s age was also not released.
She was released from jail on May 27 on a $10,000 bond. A judge ordered her to have no contact with the child.
