A mother from North Carolina has been slapped with a misdemeanor child abuse charge after her younger son told police authorities she had ordered him to beat his older brother because the latter was gay. Police said the mother could also face a mount of hate crime charges from the LGBT community for what she did to one of her children.

On Saturday, police were called and arrived on West Walter Street to a neighborhood full of several people yelling and screaming at each other.

Upon initial investigation, the 12-year-old son of Mary Gowans told police his mum had ordered him to "beat the gay away" from his older 15-year-old brother. Police also learned that the older brother was not allowed to fight back.

According to the 15-year-old, his mother also made him strip naked down to his underwear. He then alleged she struck him with a belt across his body. Police said they found a large abrasion on the teen's back.

Ms Gowans has denied all accusations, claiming her older son was drunk when he reported the incident to police.

However, local reports hinted she beat her son because she discovered the latter has been visiting a gay man, whom she heard had molested him. "It bothers me because he's a young age, he's not all there, he do not know right from wrong [sic]," she told WECT-TV.

She said she only wanted to protect her son so that he will stop seeing the gay man.