February 15, 2016 at 3:44 p.m.
Parents accused of neglecting 1-year-old resulting in bodily harm (UPDATE)
Complaint: Bruises found all over child's body
Parents accused of neglecting 1-year-old resulting in bodily harm (UPDATE)
The River News apologizes for the error.
Two Rhinelander parents were charged last month with felony child neglect (resulting in bodily harm) after police responded to the Ministry St. Mary's Hospital emergency room Jan. 23 to investigate a report that a 1-year-old child "with bruises covering (his/her) body" had been brought in for treatment.
According to the criminal complaint, Rhinelander police officers were called to the hospital just after 2 p.m. Jan. 23 after health care workers found bruises and red marks on the child's nose, forehead, ears, cheek, abdomen, arms, legs and back.
The bruising was so extensive hospital staff found injuries between the child's toes, the complaint alleges.
The complaint further alleges that the child's mother, Paige B. Cook, told the family member who brought the child to the hospital the child had been crying the entire previous night.
However, when officers went to talk to Cook, 22, she denied the child had cried the night before.
When an officer mentioned what the family member had told him at the hospital, Cook reportedly amended her story, saying the child had cried "at times throughout the night."
According to the complaint, Cook told the officers she noticed only one bruise on the child during a bath the previous evening. She said she did not know how the child could have received bruises after the bath but noted the child's father, Devon W. Martin, 25, spent the night in the child's bedroom while she slept "locked" in her own bedroom.
Another person who spent the night in the house confirmed that Martin had spent the night in the child's room but added that Cook came into the living room periodically during the night. Cook also told the officers she heard "bumping noises on the wall" five or six times while Martin was in the room with the child, the complaint states.
Officers arrested Cook at her residence. Martin was arrested a short time later at his place of employment. When questioned by officers before his arrest, Martin initially denied seeing any bruises on the child but later used a diagram of a child to point out areas where he said he noticed injuries.
A social worker met the officers at the Oneida County Jail and told them CAT scans of the infant did not detect any internal injuries but even more bruising was discovered, the complaint states.
On Jan. 24, officers questioned Cook at the jail. According to the complaint, she said she was mistaken as to when she had given the child a bath, that it was the morning of Jan. 21 not the evening of Jan. 22. She continued to maintain there were no bruises on the child at that time.
During the night of Jan. 22, she said she heard the child cry a few times. She also said she "heard banging on the wall" of the child's room throughout the night, with the child crying before and after the banging.
She also told officers she made a remark about the sounds to one of her houseguests.
"It sounds like he's beating (him/her) in there," she claimed she told the guest.
She told the officers she did not check on the child until the morning of Jan. 23 and didn't immediately see the marks because the room was dark.
According to the complaint, the officers also questioned Cook about her drug use and she told them where various drugs and paraphernalia could be found in her residence. She also gave the officers permission to search the residence and the items were recovered.
Cook and Martin made their initial court appearances on Jan. 25 before Branch II Judge Michael Bloom. In addition to the neglect of a child charges, Cook was also charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. Martin was given a $5,000 cash bond and an adjourned initial appearance date of Feb. 22. He remains in jail unable to post bond.
Cook was released on a $5,000 signature bond with the condition that she abide by any requirements set by social workers during the pendency of the case. She waived her preliminary hearing on Feb. 11 and a pre-trial hearing set for April 19.
Child neglect resulting in bodily harm is a class H felony. It carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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