Workers from the Arkansas Department of Human Services rescued a 4 year-old girl from an abusive home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She had bruises all over her body, a black eye and swollen lips, but her answer to a normal question was the thing that shook officials the most.

"What's your name?" asked a social worker.

"Idiot," the young girl replied.

She was called idiot so often and for so long that that's the word that came to mind when she was asked her name.

It left officials speechless.

The girl's mother, Jennifer Denin, and her boyfriend, Clarence Reed, were both arrested on charges of abuse and neglect. Four other children were also taken from the home.

Denin admitted she had seen her boyfriend hit the girl with a plastic bat, and said she had heard him call her an idiot. She never reported the abuse or sought medical attention for her daughter.

Reed denied hitting the girl with a bat and instead insisted it was a paddle. He admitted calling her an idiot, but claimed it was in "jest". He also said he zip-tied her to a bed in order to punish her for climbing counters.

They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.