A Las Vegas mother has been arrested on charges related to suspected child abuse after her daughter reportedly suffered chemical burns from ingesting the liquid in laundry detergent pods. Destanii Slater, 32, is accused of ignoring her 2-year-old daughter's complaints of stomach pain for several days. Although the alleged incident occurred in 2022, police arrested Slater on March 3.
Three days after the child likely ingested the detergent, she was taken to a hospital where doctors determined she had second-degree burns to approximately 10% of her body, according to 8 News Now. Police report records show that a detective urged Slater to surrender to police before her arrest last week, but she refused.
Slater reportedly downplayed the child's complaints.
Court documents state that Slater's daughter complained of "stomach pains" for three days, and Slater allegedly "ignored her crie," according to 8 News Now. The child's grandmother later found skin ripped from the toddler's chest and abdomen. The toddler was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Doctors told police the child was seriously injured.
Staff at Sunrise Hospital claimed that the burns covering the child's body were likely due to ingesting chemicals found in a packet of laundry detergent. A doctor told a detective that the child might have played with a laundry detergent pod, which exploded on her chest, according to 8 News Now.
The doctor added that Slater reportedly did not change the child's clothes. Instead, she wiped off the detergent and went to sleep, court documents show.
The child reportedly woke up in the middle of the night complaining of stomach pain, but Slater allegedly said she thought the child had gas pains and went back to sleep.
Detectives noted that the living space was not safe for children.
A detective noted that the home posed various potentially unsafe situations for kids, according to a police report. A detective said a family member kept "detergents and liquid cleaning chemicals" where a child could reach them in the family's living area. There was also an unsecured and loaded handgun in a room where several children slept.
Laundry detergent pods are dangerous.
This is not the first case of a child ingesting dangerous chemicals from a laundry detergent pod, and it is not likely to be the last. The squishy pods are often attractive to children because of their bright colors and soft texture. Experts, however, want parents to be clear that detergent pods are not toys and that they are dangerous.
8 News Now cited a study published in the 2014 Journal of Medical Toxicology that explained how toxic these pods can be.
"Dermal laundry pod exposure can result in significant chemical burns," noted the report titled "Significant Chemical Burns Associated with Dermal Exposure to Laundry Pod Detergent."
"Health-care providers should be aware of this complication and should perform thorough dermal decontamination in the event of an exposure," the report continued. "Skin should be thoroughly washed with copious amounts of water, and contaminated clothing should be removed."
Yet eating detergent pods was once a viral challenge.
Despite the warnings, teenagers and adults sometimes think eating laundry detergent is a good idea. The trend went viral a few years back, but social media platforms have tried hard to eliminate such challenges promoting risky behavior. Yet it still happens and is still dangerous.
The laundry brand Tide released a public service announcement with New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski in 2018, discouraging people from eating its products after the "Tide Pod Challenge" went viral on TikTok.
The clip's caption read, "Gronk knows that Tide PODs are for DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else."
Slater will remain in jail until — and if — she can post bail.
Slater remained in custody at Clark County Detention Center on $25,000 bail as of Tuesday. She faces charges of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm and four counts of child abuse.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
