A 43-year-old woman from Florida has been arrested for allegedly burning a young girl’s arm with a hot iron while telling the child that she no longer loved her.
Celie Placius was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of child abuse causing great bodily harm, according to records reviewed by Law&Crime. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers from the Palm Springs Police Department responded to a report of possible child abuse at a day care center around 4 p.m. on April 24, 2025. Employees at the day care had reported a suspicious burn mark on a child’s lower right forearm.
Police were able to contact Placius, whose relationship with the child has been redacted, to inquire about the apparent burn injury. When questioned, Placius allegedly claimed to have “no knowledge of what happened” to the girl, but later stated that she may have sustained the injury while playing with her friends or siblings.
Placius later revised her statement, saying she was ironing clothes while the child was nearby and had to “step away” for a short time. When she returned, Placius stated that she “observed a sticky substance on the side of the iron.” According to Placius, the child stated that she used the iron on her folder, but there was no observable injury.
At around 6:30 p.m. that evening, police conducted an in-person interview with the child, during which she allegedly provided a dramatically different version of events. The victim stated that she had eaten dinner the night before and was playing with her brothers before going to bed when things went wrong.
“Placius then used a hot clothes iron to burn [the victim’s] right forearm in two different places while stating, ‘I’m not your friend and I don’t love you anymore’ to [the victim],” according to the statement of charges. “Placius later applied cream to the wound to make it better.”
The child, who experts noted could tell the difference between truth and lie, claimed that Placius burned her while she sat at the dining room table and used the iron to burn the child’s school folder. Police stated that the burn mark on the girl’s forearm appeared to be “new and bubbling.”
According to police, another injury to the child’s hand appeared to be a burn mark that had taken more time to heal.
In a subsequent interview with investigators, Placius allegedly contradicted herself several times, including whether she knew the child’s injury was a burn, whether she applied cream or ointment to help the wound heal, and whether she had ever seen the victim pick up or play with the clothes iron.
After being read her Miranda rights, Placius allegedly maintained that she had nothing to do with the girl’s injuries.
“The injury to [the victim’s] right arm and hand do not appear to be accidental in nature or self inflicted,” the investigating officer said. “The two burn marks appear to be from prolonged exposure to a high degree of heat causing significant damage which would likely result in great bodily harm or permanent disfigurement.”
Placius was detained and transported to the Palm Beach County Jail for processing. She is currently being held on $5,000 bond and is set to appear in court again on May 27, 2025, according to records.
