MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A Miami-Dade woman is facing child abuse charges after sheriff’s deputies said she abused her five children, aged 1 to 7.

Derline Petion, 30, was taken into custody on Tuesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, pursuant to an arrest warrant dating back to 2024.

According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the investigation into Petion began on Nov. 28, 2023 after Petion dropped her four younger children off at a daycare.

Deputies said a worker noticed that Petion’s 1-year-old daughter had “marks on her legs, back and left ear” and two of her sons, aged 2 and 4, had “what appeared to be scratches on their face(s).”

An arrest report states that that prompted the worker to report the findings to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Investigators with what was then the Miami-Dade Police Department also got involved.

A detective met with three of the children and said the 1-year-old “appeared to have a faint loop mark on her back.”

The University of Miami’s Child Protection Team later evaluated all five children and said they determined that all five had “markings indicative of physical abuse,” the report states.

MDPD issued a be-on-the-lookout notice for Petion on Jan. 30, 2024 after several failed attempts to locate her ― which wouldn’t happen until Tuesday, when a TGK corrections officer called the now-MDSO detective to report that she was in custody.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Petion was being held at TGK on a $5,000 bond.

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