The Hunt County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a video that appears to show a deputy punching a woman who was 38 weeks pregnant.
Deanna Robinson, of Quinlan, said deputies and state workers from Child Protective Services showed up at her parents’ home to remove her 18-month-old son because of allegations of abuse or neglect.
"I stepped in front of my son and put my hands up and began screaming, 'No, you're not touching my kid,'" Robinson said in a news conference at her attorney’s office in Greenville.
She said CPS was investigating after an older sibling reported she and her husband had been involved in a fight at home.
The video shows two officers pushing Robinson into a corner of the kitchen.
Robinson was screaming when one of the officers appeared to hit her with his fist.
The video suddenly cuts off.
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Robinson said the deputy struck her about three more times.
The incident happened on March 4 but just recently received attention when the video was posted to social media.
She spent six days in jail after being charged with resisting arrest, interfering with child custody and assaulting an officer.
Her healthy baby boy, Levi, was born six days later.
Robinson said the video proves it was the deputy who assaulted her.
"It's ridiculous, it's insane,” she said. “I was handcuffed almost immediately and shoved into a corner by two giant men. I wouldn't have had an opportunity to assault anyone. There's nothing to warrant what they did to me."
Robinson, an Iraq war veteran, has hired an attorney but hasn’t decided whether to file a lawsuit.
"There was no professionalism,” said Greenville lawyer Carol Gustin. “There was brute force against her where she was obviously pregnant. It was not something that they could mistake."
"They all just took offense that I knew my rights and asked for my rights to be respected. You're here to take my kid! Show me the warrant or the court order!" Robinson said.
Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks declined to comment on the video but in a short written statement promised an impartial investigation.
