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Babysitter arrested for injury to a child
By HEATHER M. SMITH, hsmith@acnpapers.com
A 22-year-old female babysitter was recently arrested for injury to a 17-month-old male infant.
Priscilla Pena, a resident of The Colony, was arrested shortly after an interview with Lewisville detectives. Pena was interviewed with her lawyer, Dan Hoffman, present June 14. During the interview she admitted to causing internal injuries to an infant in her care, according to an affidavit released Wednesday.
In the affidavit, Pena said, “Something just came over her and she could not control herself. She did not know why she injured the baby.”
Pena called the infant’s mother while she was shopping and stated she should come home because the infant had slipped out of her hands in the bath tub and hurt his head and face, according to the affidavit. Once she returned to Pena’s home, the infant’s mother observed that Pena had put an ice pack on the infant’s eye and face area. The infant had a swollen left eye and bruising and scratches to the left side of his face.
The parents of the infant noticed that he was “very sick and began throwing up” after his mother took him to their home. The parents decided to take the infant to the emergency room at the Medical Center of Lewisville. Doctors examined him and sent him home. The parents were told to follow up with the infant’s pediatrician the next day, according to the affidavit.
On May 18, the infant was taken to see his pediatrician, who recommended that the parents take him to Children’s Medical Center of Plano. Additional tests were completed at the Plano hospital, and the parents were told that the infant was very ill and would have to be transferred by Careflight to Children’s Medical of Dallas.
Dr. Amy Barton with Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, observed that the infant had “fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, a lung contusion and a pneumothorax on the left side” according to the affidavit. Barton stated the infant also had other minor injuries to his face and head. She gave a medical affidavit which indicated “the victim’s injuries were consistent with the victim being subjected to a very hard blow or repetitive blows to his midsection.”
Pena was interviewed for the first time on May 20, according to the affidavit. During the interview she stated that she did not know how the baby received his serious injuries.
Pena was not interviewed again until June 11. On that date, Pena took and failed a polygraph test, according to the affidavit.
During her June 14 interview, Pena stated the infant’s internal injuries were the result of her “jumping on his midsection with her knees folded while the victim was lying on the floor in the hallway of her home.” She stated her knees struck the baby’s midsection three to four times.
During the interview, Pena admitted that she injured the infant on May 17 when she was watching him while the mother was at the store. She also stated the baby’s head and face injuries were caused by “the baby hitting his head and face on the wall of the hallway when she was jumping on his midsection with her knees.”
Following her interview, Pena was allowed to leave the police department, and her attorney was advised that an arrest warrant would be issued later. The interview was video and audio recorded.
Pena faces charges of injury to a child, which is a felony offense.
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