A Phoenix man was arrested on child abuse charges after repeatedly throwing his 23-month-old daughter into a pool, in what he said was an attempt to teach her that water is dangerous.

Corey McCarthy was caught on video tossing daughter Mia into the water as his girlfriend hurried to rescue her, and then picking her up and throwing her again. McCarthy claimed the toddler dropped a 5-week-old puppy into the pool, killing it, and he was trying to show her not to play in the water.

The little girl survived the "lesson," but her mother, who wasn't there, is outraged.

"I am very angry and I'm very hurt and I just hope that my kids are going to be OK from this," the toddler's mother, Samantha, told KTVK. "People make mistakes, but this is past a poor decision and a mistake. This is a child."

"What people don't know is also in the beginning of the video, he hoses her down with a water hose to kind of torture her that way."

McCarthy and Samantha, an off-and-on couple who have two children together, have recently had disagreements over custody.

Family members said McCarthy, arrested last week, is still locked up. He's currently in an infirmary after he was beaten up in jail.

[H/T Opposing Views]