A Chehalis woman is facing assault charges for allegedly burning her 2-year-old son with a cigarette.
The woman is not being named by The Chronicle to protect the identity of the alleged victim.
She was arrested after the 2-year-old’s aunt called the Chehalis Police Department on April 24 to report an infected burn on the inside of the 2-year-old’s arm.
The child’s aunt stated that when she asked the 2-year-old what happened to his arm, “the 2-year-old went to a cigarette box and attempted to remove a cigarette,” according to court documents. When the child’s aunt stopped him from taking a cigarette, the 2-year-old reportedly “pointed to the cigarette box and then his arm.”
The child’s aunt stated she called law enforcement “because she didn’t want to be blamed for the child’s injury later on by (the child’s mother),” according to court documents.
When contacted by police, the child's mother reportedly “became hysterical” and said “the burn was caused by a coffee pot that had been pulled down from the counter,” according to court documents.
She was arrested and was placed on a 72-hour hold for prosecutors to obtain a forensic statement from a medical professional regarding the cause of the burn.
At the end of that 72-hour hold, the woman was charged with third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence.
She was released on a $5,000 unsecured bail shortly after her initial arrest.
Child Protective Services took custody of the 2-year-old and another child in the home at the time of the woman's arrest and there is a no-contact order in place preventing the woman from interacting with either of the children, according to Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson.
