A woman accused of severely burning her two children with a clothes iron appeared in District Court yesterday morning, charged with two counts of second-degree assault.

Ionerina Baelo, 29, was notified of the charges against her through a court-appointed Chuukese interpreter.

Details of the charges against her are scheduled to be aired in a preliminary hearing this afternoon in Family Court, although that proceeding will be canceled if Baelo is first indicted by a grand jury.

According to a police affidavit filed in court, Baelo's 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son had second-degree burns consistent with injuries from a clothes iron.

Alerted by a counselor at the Kalihi office of Parents and Children Together, police arrested Baelo on Thursday at the PACT office.