PALM BAY, Fla. -- An age-old punishment got a 32-year-old mother and her 41-year-old boyfriend from Palm Bay thrown in jail. An 8-year-old girl said a bad word over weekend, so the couple washed her mouth out with soap.

The little girl was hospitalized, but was released and put in the custody of the Department of Children and Families along with a sibling.

While you've probably heard of parents washing their kids’ mouth out with soap, police say in this case it wasn't just a form of discipline, it was abuse.

The couple is in hot water after attempting to discipline the 8-year-old girl using a bar of Irish Spring. Police say Wilfredo Rivera forced the little girl to chew on a half-bar of the green soap for 10 minutes after she said the "F" word.

Police said the little girl was foaming at the mouth and wasn't allowed to wash the soap out until she cleaned up her own vomit.

"The detectives handling this case believed it to the point of abuse, child abuse, and that it was malicious torture,” explained Palm Bay police spokesperson Yvonne Martinez said.

Investigators say Rivera was laughing while the girl's mother did nothing until the couple noticed the girl's lips, throat and tongue were swollen. Then Rivera took her to Palm Bay Community Hospital.

However, police say, Rivera didn't stay to get her any help and left after he found out hospital staff called authorities, including the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Their landlord said Rivera told him they left because their daughter wanted to leave.

"He told me that the child was hungry and he said he knew she wasn't hungry because he had fed her something,” landlord Darwyn Rushing said.

When police discovered the girl at her house, she was still showing signs of some sort of allergic reaction that could have had dire consequences.

"Complications that could have turned life threatening,” Martinez said.

The girl was taken by ambulance back to the hospital and the couple was taken to jail. The 8-year-old girl is not the child of the mother’s boyfriend. Herderner and Rivera, however, do have an 18-month-old child together. Both children are in the care and custody of DCF.

Adriyanna Herdener was released on her own recognizance and her boyfriend was released with $20,000 bond. Eyewitness News tried to contact both of them, but was unable to reach them.

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