Mother jailed on $50,000 bail on child abuse charge

Mother jailed on $50,000 bail on child abuse charge

    (Stillwater, Okla.) — A 24-year-old mother has been jailed on $50,000 bail pending a March 4 court appearance on a felony charge accusing her of abusing her 6-year-old son by grabbing him around his neck, kicking him and manhandling him at their Stillwater apartment.

    Valentina Morgan has been ordered to have no contact with the child as a condition of bail, court records show.

    She was arrested at her apartment on Feb. 2 at 8:02 pm, three hours after Stillwater Police Officer Kurt Merrill observed a forensic interview of the boy at the Saville Center for Child Advocacy, according to his affidavit.

    The boy said that during an altercation with his mother, “he was grabbed around his neck, and he motioned by putting both of his hands around his own neck. He also stated he was ‘banged’ on the toys. (He) added that he was kicked by his mother, who continued to ‘bang’ him as she put him in his room,” the officer’s affidavit alleged.

    In a separate interview, the boy’s account was corroborated by his younger sister, the affidavit alleged.

    During a physical examination of the boy, “He was found to have two scratches about 1.5 inches in length on the right side of his neck,” that ran parallel to each other from the back toward the front, the affidavit alleged.

    “There was also a bruise about the size of a quarter just dorsal to the two scratches almost on the back of (the boy’s) neck.

    “Also found during the examination were a circle shape red bruise about 1 inch by 1 inch along the ribs on (the boy’s) right side that was sensitive when palpated, a 1.5 inch scratch or abrasion in the mid back just to the right of (the boy’s) spine, a deeper blue colored bruise that was less defined yet painful upon palpation, which was located in the area of the right kidney,” the affidavit alleged.

    “All of these injuries are consistent with the accounts,” given by the boy and his sister, the affidavit alleged