‘Mommy gives me owies.’ Woman accused of torturing 6-year-old, Washington cops say
A 36-year-old woman is accused of torturing her 6-year-old child in Washington, police said.
The woman was arrested and charged with first-degree assault of a child and first-degree criminal mistreatment in Seattle on March 1, according to charging documents.
Authorities responded to a “domestic violence incident” when they found the girl unresponsive and covered in bruises, police said in the probable cause statement.
The child told medical responders that her mother hits her and she had not eaten in days, police said.
She told police that “mommy gives me owies,” and “mommy gives me whoopings.”
The woman’s boyfriend called police when he saw the child unresponsive, police said.
Once at a children’s hospital, the girl told doctors she sleeps in the shower, where she also goes to the bathroom because she can’t stand up without passing out, police said.
She said she actually had not eaten in two weeks, police said.
Police said she hasn’t been seen by a doctor in two or three years and was taken out of school.
Her mother told police she feeds her daughter. Her boyfriend said he has seen the woman hit the child with a belt and a spatula, police said.
Doctors diagnosed the child with severe malnutrition and physical abuse, police said in the statement. The child was also reported looking emaciated with “diffuse bruising and skin injuries.”
The child’s state is “highly suggestive of child torture,” doctors told the police. Child torture includes physical abuse and “psychological maltreatment” like starvation and isolation.
The woman’s next court hearing is March 16 at 8:30 a.m.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 7:05 PM with the headline "‘Mommy gives me owies.’ Woman accused of torturing 6-year-old, Washington cops say."
