Mom Debbie Piscitella arrested, accused of assault over Facebook comments

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 46-year-old mother who was charged with assaulting a 14-year-old boy at a mall says she was angry that the boy wrote nasty comments about her daughter on Facebook.

Debbie Piscitella and her 14-year-old daughter were at the mall on Monday when the girl spotted the boy.

St. Petersburg Police say Piscitella put her hands around the boy's throat and confronted him.

The boy's mother initially said she didn't want to press charges but changed her mind after her son came home and she saw marks on his neck.

Piscitella was arrested on a charge of child abuse and was released from jail on bail Tuesday.

Piscitella wrote on Facebook Wednesday that she shouldn't have touched the boy but said the boy had tormented her daughter.