Mother faces charges in case involving severe child abuse

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A 28-year-old Milwaukee mother faces seven counts of physical abuse of a child (intentional causation of great bodily harm), one count of child neglect and one count of obstructing/resisting an officer in connection with the alleged severe abuse of her 21-month-old child.

A criminal complaint in the case says that on January 5th, a social worker at Children's Hospital was notified of a child abuse victim in the emergency room.

The complaint says the child's condition was critical, and her injuries were indicators of child abuse and blunt force trauma.

Officials spoke with the child's mother, who said the child in the ER is her only child. The criminal complaint says the child's mother told officials "she was not a bad mother, and would not hurt her baby."

The complaint says the child's mother told officials the child's father picked the child up on Christmas morning, and the child was dropped off at the child's mother's home the following afternoon.

The complaint says the child's mother told officials the child's father said the child had fallen, and had gotten rug burn on her forehead and hand.

The complaint says the child's mother didn't notice any other injuries to the child.

The complaint says the child was picked up later in the afternoon on December 26th by the child's father's cousin.

Around 3:00 p.m. on January 4th, the child's mother says she was notified by the child's father's cousin that the child wasn't urinating, and the cousin said "she didn't know what was wrong with her," according to the complaint.

The child's mother told officials the child was taken to Children's Hospital because she wasn't urinating, according to the complaint.

The complaint says an officer learned that the child had been taken to a clinic on December 28th with the injury to her forehead and hand. Paperwork from that visit indicated hospital personnel were concerned for child abuse and directed the child's mother to go to Children's Hospital -- but the child was not taken there until January 4th.

That's when the child's mother was arrested.

The complaint says officials spoke with the child's father's sister, who said she, nor any of her family members had seen the child over the holidays -- saying she was unaware any family members had seen the child in about a year.

Another sister of the child's father told officials she hadn't seen the child since the child's first birthday in April. That sister told officials she had offered to take the child if the child's mother couldn't deal with her. That sister told officials it seemed as though the child's mother was keeping the child away from the family for some reason.

The criminal complaint in the case says when officials spoke with the child's mother, she originally denied having any children -- and then admitted to having six other children -- all of which had been taken away from her by the Milwaukee Bureau of Child Welfare due to accusations of abuse.

The complaint says the child's mother admitted to lying to officers -- saying she had had sole custody of the child over the past few months -- and nobody has had the child over the holidays.

The complaint says the child's mother told officials the child had burns on her hand and forehead from the radiator heating, had scratches on her chest and leg from scratching herself, had scratches on her back from rubbing up against paint on the wall, and said the child had fallen in her room while the child's mother was in the kitchen -- saying "that must have been how she hurt herself internally."

The complaint says the child's mother told officials she didn't go to Children's Hospital because her boyfriend's mother told her the child would be taken away and she would go to jail. The complaint says she then stated that she couldn't get a ride to the hospital.

The complaint says the child's mother told officials she knew how serious the injuries were on the outside, but didn't know how serious the internal injuries were.

The child's mother told officials she lied to the hospital because she was scared of going to jail, according to the complaint.

The child's mother had noticed that in the last week of December, the child's breathing was not normal and the child had stopped eating as well -- according to the complaint.

The complaint says the child's mother admitted she got frustrated and grabbed the child hard. She told officials the child backed into a cigarette and that is how she was burned.

The complaint says the child's mother admitted to spanking the child, saying that is how the child got bruises on her body. The child's mother also admitted to grabbing the child all over her body and squeezing her.

The child's mother further admitted to biting the child, burning the child with cigarettes, punching the child with full force to her body, pushing the child with force against the radiator at close range, busting the child's head open when she pushed her, pushing the child onto the floor with nails on it where the carpet had been pulled up -- and spanking the child when she would get angry -- according to the complaint.

The complaint says the child's mother told officials she asked the child's father for help, but said she had no help and would get frustrated and take her frustration out on the child.

A doctor found no medical condition that would explain the child's extensive injuries, saying in the criminal complaint the only explanation is "severe, life-threatening physical abuse and neglect."