Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

CONNELLY SPRINGS – Two women are facing charges after authorities said one of them struck children with a set of metal knuckles.

Natalie Anne Childress, 25, of 6583 Gold Creek Road, Connelly Springs, was charged with felony negligent child abuse – serious bodily injury Friday, according to a press release from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

Jessica Renee Sanders, 26, of the same address, was charged with aid or abet negligent child abuse – serious bodily injury, the release said.

The charges against Childress and Sanders came after child protective services received an anonymous complaint of abuse against children, according to the release.

The complainant said Childress had struck children in her care and control with a pair of metal knuckles, inflicting serious physical injuries, the release said. Sheriff Steve Whisenant confirmed to The News Herald there were two children involved.

When CPS investigators tried to make contact with Sanders, the mother of the children, she told them the children were not on the premises.

CPS requested assistance from BCSO deputies, who responded to the scene and found the children hiding at the home, the release said.

Deputies requested EMS to the scene and had the children transported to UNC Health Blue Ridge Valdese because of their injuries, and they later were transported to a children’s hospital abuse and trauma center, the release said.

After detectives with the criminal investigations division and child protective services conducted interviews, Childress and Sanders were charged, the release said.

Both are being held at the Burke County Jail under a $250,000 secured bond, the release said. They’re due to appear in court Monday.

Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

A chase that started in Burke County ended with a PIT maneuver Wednesday night.

After decades of wearing variations of the same uniform, local sheriff’s deputies have a new style they say is more comfortable, more durable …

A man who has been wanted since the end of July for a statutory rape charge was arrested Friday.

A no trespassing order has been issued for a home southwest of Morganton.

A man was charged after a motorcycle chase ended in a wreck Thursday.

A multi-agency collaboration led to the seizure of more than 18 pounds of methamphetamine.

A Georgia woman is locked up at the Burke County Jail under a $1 million bond after deputies said they caught her with more than 17 pounds of …

A 40-year-old man who was being held at the Burke County Jail on a trespassing and resisting officers charge died after being found unresponsi…

NEWTON — A Morganton man who resigned from his post as a correctional officer last week now is facing five child sex charges in Catawba County.

There might be a new chief in town, but it’s a familiar face who will be heading up the Morganton Department of Public Safety.

Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.