Woman pleaded innocent to charges

A woman accused of hitting her autistic child with a belt pleaded not guilty to a felony child abuse charge.

Jayme R. Foster of Green River appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Nena James at an arraignment to one count of felony child abuse.

If found guilty of the charge, Foster could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

According to documents, on Feb. 5, 2015, an officer was sent to an elementary school to check on a possible child abuse case.

Upon arrival, the officer met the child and saw numerous bruises on his body. Some of those bruises were patterned and in various stages of healing. Photos were taken of the bruises; and the officer tried to talk with the child, but communication was limited since he is autistic.

The officer was told the boy said at the emergency room that he had been “whooped” with a red belt, but would not say who hit him. He kept telling people his injuries were sunburns.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers seized several items, including two belts and a piece of plastic that matched some of the boy’s injuries.

Foster was interview by officers and denied knowledge of the boy’s injuries. She told the officers the injuries were from an altercation her son had with older children. When officers confronted Foster about the patterns of the injuries, Foster allegedly admitted that she “snapped,” and struck the boy after he had been having one fit after another.

A detective showed Foster photos of the injuries and asked her to explain what caused them and she said “I failed miserably.”

She allegedly admitted to pushing the boy when he was in the bathtub, which caused the boy to fall and get a bruise. Foster allegedly showed the officers where a black, plastic strip was that she allegedly used to hit the boy with.

When asked about the belt wounds, Foster said she recalled using a brown belt, but when she snapped she sort of “blacked out.”

She said she did not recall actually picking up the belt and using it to strike the boy. Foster denied instructing the boy to lie to anyone about the bruises. She said she knew if people saw them she would be in trouble.