--- description: A 4-year-old girl in Hot Springs, Arkansas found with covered in bruises and scars thought her name was "Idiot," officials said title: 4-Year-Old Girl Found Beaten and Bruised Thought Her Name was 'Idiot' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd305c817c62dd076/6988a2c5656a3f6231bccc6b/clarence-reed-jennifer-denen-child-abuse.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 4-Year-Old Girl Found Beaten and Bruised Thought Her Name was 'Idiot' by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2016 2:19 PM CUT  Clarence Reed and Jennifer Denen Clarence Reed and Jennifer DenenGarland County Sheriff's Department by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2016 2:19 PM CUT A 4-year-old girl in Hot Springs, Arkansas found with covered in bruises and scars thought her name was “Idiot,” officials said. Workers from the Arkansas Department of Human Services determined the girl had been abused after officials found her with deep, purple bruises, a black eye, scars on her back and ligature marks on her wrists, the [_Hot Springs Sentinel-Record_](http://www.hotsr.com/news/2016/aug/16/couple-arrested-after-girl-4-allegedly-/ "undefined") reports. When local police arrived at the Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center and asked the girl her name, she responded “idiot,” according to the arrest report cited by the Sentinel-Record. Authorities charged the girl’s mother, Jennifer Denen, 30, and her boyfriend, Clarence Reed, 47, with domestic battery, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering welfare of a minor. Denen told local police she saw her boyfriend hit her daughter with a plastic bat and that she heard him call the young girl “idiot,” the [_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/17/a-4-year-old-girl-zip-tied-as-punishment-told-police-her-name-is-idiot/ "undefined") reported. Reed said he did hit the child, but with a wooden paddle, and he zip-tied her as a punishment, according to the _Post._ Six children lived in the house with Denen and Reed. Police told the _Post_ that the 4-year old girl and an 11-month old are now in the custody of the Department of Human Services. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4457276/girl-abused-malnourished-name-idiot/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4457276/girl-abused-malnourished-name-idiot/"},"headline":"4-Year-Old Girl Found Beaten and Bruised Thought Her Name was 'Idiot'","datePublished":"2016-08-18T14:19:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:02:31.732Z","description":"She had been zip-tied as a punishment","url":"https://time.com/4457276/girl-abused-malnourished-name-idiot/","keywords":["Crime","Child abuse","Arkansas"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd305c817c62dd076/6988a2c5656a3f6231bccc6b/clarence-reed-jennifer-denen-child-abuse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd305c817c62dd076/6988a2c5656a3f6231bccc6b/clarence-reed-jennifer-denen-child-abuse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Clarence-Reed-Jennifer-Denen-Child-Abuse","caption":"Clarence Reed and Jennifer Denen","creditText":"Garland County Sheriff's Department","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4457276/girl-abused-malnourished-name-idiot/","name":"4-Year-Old Girl Found Beaten and Bruised Thought Her Name was 'Idiot'"}}]}] ```