A Florida woman remained in the Palm Beach County Jail early Saturday after she was arrested in connection with the beating a 4-year-old child, which left him with multiple injuries, including 10 fractured ribs, according to an arrest report.
Schiwanda Lavern Bellinger, 36, is facing charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect with great bodily harm and is being held in lieu of a $40,000 bail.
Lantana police responded to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach on April 17 after being alerted to the injured child by a Florida Department of Children and Families investigator, the report said.
Police were told the child had sustained 10 fractured ribs, two fractured shoulder blades, a fractured right arm and a fractured pelvis.
The child also had multiple scars “from head to toe,” including severe scarring on his nose and face, a doctor who examined the child told police.
Bellinger, whose relationship to the child is redacted in the arrest report, told police the injuries were likely sustained from falls off a countertop and a swing set. She said she brought the child to the hospital after the child’s right arm swelled up after a fall.
But the child told police the arm injury was sustained after Bellinger pulled it while the child was on the ground. The child indicated the fractured ribs were a result of repeated punches to the stomach and the shoulder injuries were caused by punches to the child’s back, the report said.
The child told police that Bellinger “is not nice to me.”
During an interview with police on April 21, the child was asked who caused the arm injury and mentioned a person other than Bellinger, according to the report. The officer who wrote the report noted that Bellinger was allowed “supervised visitation” with the child while the case was being investigated.
Bellinger insisted during a police interview that the child was hurt in falls and denied any abuse.
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