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Burned Bottom
February 24, 2013 permalink
California foster mother Patricia Ann Moore knew how to fix her baby's defecation problem: soak her diaper in bleach and burned her bottom.
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Foster Mother Allegedly Put Bleach-Soaked Diaper on Baby
Patrica Ann Moore, 68, faces felony charges of willful cruelty to a child and infliction of injury on a child for allegedly burning her foster toddler's bottom with a bleach-soaked diaper.
A woman who allegedly soaked a diaper in bleach and made her 20-month-old foster daughter wear it, producing first-degree and second-degree burns, faces child abuse charges.
Patricia Ann Moore was arrested by SSFPD Aug. 19, 2010, after medical staff at a Kaiser hospital noticed the 20-month-old had waffle-shaped burns on her bottom, court papers indicate.
Moore told personnel that the child had a "defecation problem," so she bathed the toddler in 12 inches of water and a half-capful of bleach, court records state.
The suspect told authorities that when she noticed redness the following day, she brought the child to the hospital.
However, according to court documents, doctors noticed that the burns were in a waffle pattern typical of a diaper fabric and that there were no burns anywhere but her bottom.
They called police, who upon investigation found in the woman's trash a diaper soaked in bleach on the bottom, papers state.
Moore was indicted by a Grand Jury and on Friday, her defense attorney unsuccessfully argued a motion to dismiss the indictment, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Trial was set for April 22; a pretrial conference was set for March 18.
She is charged with felony willful cruelty to a child and infliction of injury on a child.
The defendant last October posted bond for $50,000 bail.
Source: South San Francisco Patch
PAPA in BC pointed out a related item:
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Helping the Infirmed
Two years ago- Kyle Petrus, a 13 year old autistic boy was at a residential facility.
Kyle, who is developmentally 1 year old accidently wet himself. That's when a caretaker threw bleach in his face. That caretaker was sentenced to probation.
Since then - Kyle's family has been working to get a bill passed that would sentence those who abuse people like Kyle to jail.
House Bill 762 passed committee unanimously. It goes before the House for a vote tomorrow.
Source: WVLA Baton Rouge
Addendum: Moore has been sued.
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Family of bleach-burned foster child sues foster insurance fund
Patricia MoorePrior to a South San Francisco foster mom burning a 20-month ward with bleach-soaked diapers, the licensed home had received more than a dozen allegations of child abuse or neglect, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the injured girl.
The accusations against Patricia Moore and the Moore Foster Home, which was licensed in San Mateo County to accept medically fragile infants, include housing children in a cold basement, withholding food from them as punishment, extreme diaper rashes and sexual abuse, stated the suit filed on behalf of the minor A.J. through her guardian Chantel Johnson against the Foster Family Home and Small Family Home Insurance Fund.
The fund pays claims of foster children, parents and guardians filed in relation to foster services. Johnson is also suing Moore and her family, the city and county of San Francisco and San Mateo County but that piece is in federal court.
The civil case stems from the care and injuries of A.J., an 8-month-old a medically fragile infant removed from her parents in San Francisco and placed in Moore’s care in 2009. In August 2010, South San Francisco police arrested Moore after Kaiser Medical Center staff reported a toddler was brought in by Moore’s daughter, Coi, with first- and second-degree burns on her buttocks. According to prosecutors, Moore later told authorities she used bleach-soaked diapers to clean the child who soiled herself quite often. Doctors allegedly noted the burns were in a waffle pattern like that of diaper fabric. Moore allegedly also could not explain why, if the girl had been bathed, she didn’t have burns on other parts of her body that would have been submerged, such as her legs.
In May 2011, Judge Richard Livermore dismissed the abuse case against Moore citing insufficient evidence but in fall 2012 prosecutors successfully asked a criminal grand jury to indict on felony charges of willful cruelty to a child and infliction of injury on a child. The case settled in 2013 with Moore, 68, being allowed to plead no contest to misdemeanor child endangerment with the caveat she receive a 20-day suspended sentence and not serve any time. She was ordered to complete a year of child abuse treatment, placed on three years supervised probation and prohibited from caring for future foster children.
An endangerment charge means a person is accused of acting negligently in a way that is likely to result in physical injury or death rather than acting more knowingly, such as a deliberate blow.
But according to Johnson’s lawsuit filed March 13 in San Mateo County Superior Court, the burned toddler was not the only incident in which Moore and her foster home allegedly neglected of injured children in its care. The suit claims at least 13 allegations include complaints of failure to properly wash, clean and feed children and failing to take them to medical appointments or give them prescribed medication. The suit states that medical professionals, social workers and psychotherapists raised the complaints which included numerous and severe diaper rashes, unexplained bruising and neglect of medical care but that San Francisco social workers knowingly left A.J. in the Moore home for nearly a year. During this time, according to the suit, A.J. had several diaper rashes and another infant was removed in February 2010 for a “severe” diaper rash that raised red flags for one social worker about Moore’s care.
Another foster infant had bruising which led the biological mother to contact police and Moore admitted to not giving A.J. her prescribed medication, the suit stated.
The day after the Aug. 17, 2010, bleach burns, Moore’s daughter, who was not a licensed caregiver took the child to the hospital, the suit stated.
In totality, “Moore severely neglected A.J. while she was in her care, causing A.J.’s development to be stunted and harming her mentally, physically and emotionally,” attorney Gerald Singleton wrote in the suit.
Moore could not be reached for comment and Susan J. Kawala, the California Attorney General’s Office attorney representing the fund, did not return an inquiry.
A case management conference is scheduled for May 22.
Source: San Mateo Daily Journal
