The nation’s child welfare agency PANI has filed formal charges with prosecutors for two photos that appeared on Facebook of the parents profiles. In the first case, the video shows a baby drinking liquid from a beer bottle.

In the second, posted this week, the image on another Facebook profile shows a child of apparently two or three years old holding a revolver in one hand while making what appears to be a two-fingered peace signal with the other.

The mother of the baby drinking from the bottle runs the risk of losing custody of the child. The child is about nine months old. The video was exhibited on the Facebook page of a person named Zambrana.

The court’s detective agency OIJ is investigating the case. OIJ says that the mother, hearing of the investigation, this week called 911 to turn herself in. It will likely make a difference if the detectives find out that the liquid the child was drinking was not beer.

But PANI lawyer Roberto Meneses told La Nacion that the parents could lose custody or at least face PANI parental orientation workshops. A hearing is scheduled next Wednesday.

Tatiana Vargas of the prosecutor’s office told La Nacion that the procedure that the courts will follow is quite different than that of PANI, which is an independent agency. Meneses warned that parents should watch what they put on social media, in this case because it could indicate violation of a minor’s rights.

The Child and Adolescents Code specifies, “It is prohibited to publish, reproduce, show, sell or use in any form images or photographs of minors to illustrate information referring to actions or omissions that attribute to a criminal character or go against morals or good customs.”

The child with the revolver appears on a page of a person named Quino. In another country, such as the United States this photo would probably not raise eyebrows despite the controversy recently stirred up by the massacre of civilians at a Washington D.C. Naval Yard.

But here, where war toys are frowned upon and toy pistols may very well be outlawed in the future, the image is disturbing to even Costa Ricans who own a firearm. This revolver appears to be very real, a Smith and Wesson or Colt with a swingout cylinder.

A formal accusation has been filed and Meneses called upon citizens who recognize the child or the name on the site to come forward with information.