A 3-year-old found with 15 fractures, possible burn marks, cops say. Mother has been charged
A mom didn’t take her 3-year-old daughter to the hospital after she suffered 15 fractures because she feared they would call police and the Department of Children and Families.
She was right.
Veronica Sanchez, a 31-year-old woman, is facing charges of child neglect with great bodily harm and aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm. She remained in jail on Friday afternoon on a $15,000 bond.
On Wednesday, Sanchez took her daughter to a hospital for head injuries, police say. After examination, doctors found 15 body fractures, both old and new, and various bruises around her body.
The doctor did not believe that the child’s fractures were self-inflicted. He also could not confirm if she had a bite mark and cigarette burn scars on her back, an arrest report read.
A child protection nurse at the hospital deemed the girl’s injuries resulted from child abuse and told police. It was not clear what condition the child is in or where she is. Police did not identify the hospital.
Officers met Sanchez at the hospital and took her to Miami-Dade Police’s Special Victims Bureau. She told officers that in the last couple of months the child had been harming herself.
She also said she once grabbed her and slammed her against the child’s mattress, she told police. Another time, she grabbed her daughter and squeezed her hard in her chest. She said she did this to let out frustration on how the girl was acting.
Sanchez said she did not bite her daughter, and the injury to her back was caused by the girl’s nails, police said. The last time Sanchez saw her daughter allegedly injure herself was in the last couple of months, but she did not take her to get medical attention.
“She was afraid the police and the Department of Children and Family would be called,” police said.
The Department of Children and Families did not immediately respond to the Herald seeking comment about the case.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 6:24 PM.
CORRECTION: Correction: This story was updated to because the city of residence of the mother is unclear.
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