In a troubling incident from West Virginia, a 9-year-old girl arrived at her school visibly bruised and shared with staff that her parents had allegedly used a metal flyswatter, a belt, and a wooden paddle with holes to beat her. Authorities have reported that the parents also habitually locked her in her room while they stepped outside to smoke.

Following an investigation conducted by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Lewis Nuzum II, aged 52, and Josephine Nuzum, aged 45, face charges of child abuse resulting in injury and child neglect resulting in injury. These charges are detailed in court records accessible to Law&Crime.

Local CBS affiliate WDTV obtained charging documents that lay out the allegations against the couple, including their own statements attempting to justify their actions.

The police report that the Nuzums acknowledged disciplining the child when she misbehaved, insisting that they only used their hands. However, the young girl recounted to school officials that her parents employed a silver and green metal flyswatter, a brown belt with a turquoise buckle, and the wooden paddle as instruments of punishment, according to WDTV.

During questioning, Lewis Nuzum allegedly admitted to officers that he would “beat the a— off her,” but he claimed he did so only with his hand.

Josephine Nuzum told police that the girl “does this every year school starts,” in reference to the abuse allegations, according to the charging documents.

The girl had bruises on her face and eyelid that she said came from being hit with the flyswatter. She told cops she “cried really hard” after being hit and her father tried to keep her from going to school the next day but she “wanted to go,” WDTV reports, citing the charging documents.

When police asked about locking the girl in her room, the Nuzums allegedly claimed they had “caught her calling 911 before” while they were outside smoking. She did this by retrieving “a cellphone out of their room,” according to the couple.

Police searched the home and found what they allege was a wooden block with screws and a locking mechanism attached to it that lined up with holes in the girl’s bedroom door.

The Nuzums were arrested and booked at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail. Court records show bail was set at $100,000 for Lewis Nuzum and $50,000 for Josephine Nuzum. They were both still behind bars Monday.