HTR Media

MANITOWOC – Bail was set at $10,000 cash on Tuesday for a 31-year-old Manitowoc woman accused of beating and scalding her 5-year-old son with Down syndrome. She is expected to be charged with felony child abuse.

According to the probable cause affidavit:

Aurora Medical Center on Monday contacted the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department to report that a 5-year-old boy had been brought in with scald burns over 50 percent of his body and heavy bruising on his back. The bruising appeared to be consistent with the child having received a beating.

The child was transported to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he was scheduled for surgery.

Authorities contacted the boy's mother, who told them she got "as angry as I've ever been" and began slapping the boy repeatedly on his back with her open hand. While she was beating him, he defecated in his pants.

She said she then pulled him into the bathroom, causing more bruising to his arm. She made him stand under the shower with the water set at the coldest temperature until "he got himself cleaned up." She also made him clean his underwear.

The boy's mother then switched the water to run out of the bathtub spigot and made him sit in the tub while she changed the temperature from cold to hot. She said she believes he sat under the hot water for about 1 to 1½-minutes, resulting in the scald burns. She said he was screaming while under the cold water and the hot. She said she realized the water was too hot when she reached in to help him clean his underwear and almost burned herself.

The incident occurred between 1 and 1:25 p.m., yet no medical attention was sought until about 4:30 p.m.

The woman was released on bail with the condition that she have no contact with her son and another child and have no unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18. Her initial appearance in Manitowoc County Circuit Court is set for 2:30 p.m. on Monday.

Compiled by Suzanne Weiss: (920) 686-2140 or skweiss@htrnews.com