Pa. parents charged after pet ferrets chew infant's face

DARBY, Pa. -- A Philadelphia-area couple whose pet ferrets attacked their newborn daughter and chewed off parts of her face have been charged with child endangerment.

Burnie Fraim, 42, and Jessica Benales, 24, of Darby each face five counts of endangering the welfare of children, court documents show. The infant is one of five children that lived in the home, reports CBS Philly.

The month-old girl was left alone downstairs in her car seat, where she was attacked by the ferrets, authorities in Delaware County said. Officials said the ferrets chewed off her nose and part of her cheek and lip.

"It's not our fault. We didn't do it, the animals did it," the victim's father Burnie Fraim told CBS Philly. "We left the child unattended, which we take full responsibility."

Fraim admitted that he and his fiancée left the child unattended, but said he didn't believe they should face criminal charges.

Fraim told the station the child looked like "it didn't have a face."

Court documents indicate the defendants have asked for representation by the county public defender's office. Calls to the office rang unanswered Monday night.

"This is the most horrific thing I've seen happen to a child in 45 years in this town," Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe told the station. "These kids need to be protected."