Couple arrested after video shows child playing with a gun

Video: The couple can be heard telling the baby to say 'bang, shoot and pow'

(ITN)

A couple in the United States have been charged with child neglect after a video apparently showed the pair telling a one-year old baby to put a gun in her mouth and make gun fire sounds.

Police in Evansville, Indiana, arrested Michael Barnes, 19, last Thursday after he had allegedly agreed to sell a handgun to an undercover officer via social media.

During a follow-up investigation, officers found the shocking video on Barnes' mobile phone on Friday.

The video shows the baby girl playing with a gun while Barnes and the child's mother, 22-year-old Toni Wilson, appear to instruct the girl to make gun fire sounds. At one point Barnes can be heard saying, "Bang! Shoot!" as well as "Pow!"

Police confirmed that the child was holding a .40 caliber handgun.

A police statement read, "The video also shows the child placing the muzzle of the gun in his mouth. At no point does Barnes try to stop the child from playing with the gun."

When authorities visited Wilson to question her about the video, she claimed that the gun was a pellet gun.

Wilson was arrested for child neglect, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, and allowing a child to possess a firearm. Barnes is facing the same charges on top of the original charges he was handed after his Thursday night arrest.

The 12-month-old girl and two one-month-old twins were placed into emergency care. Barnes is not the father of the girl in the video but he is the father of the twins.