Mother charged as accessory in child abuse case
Mother charged as accessory in child abuse case
By The Gillette News Record
Via Wyoming News Exchange
GILLETTE — The mother of a 3-month-old boy who reportedly received 31 broken bones under his father's care has been charged with being an an accessory after the fact for allegedly coaching another child before a police interview.
Keasha Ann Bullinger, 28, also has been charged with seven counts of child endangerment, all misdemeanors, for allowing her boyfriend to care for the baby even though she suspected that the father, Tyler Martinson, wasn’t capable of adequately caring for the child.
Martinson, 28, has been charged with 31 counts of child abuse.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Thursday for Bullinger for accessory after the fact, a felony, and child endangerment to see if there is probable cause to suspect her of the crime. If so, she would be bound over to District Court to enter a plea and stand trial on the charges.
The child had been taken to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, for treatment of its broken bones, which included 26 rib fractures that caused his rib bones to “pop” when the baby was handled, and five broken bones in his legs.
The accessory after the fact charge stems from an interview with Bullinger’s other son, where it appeared he had been prepped for the interview by his mother, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The child said his mom told him what kind of questions investigators were likely to ask. She also had told him what happened to the baby, saying that Martinson had hurt him accidentally and that “a baby’s bones are delicate,” according to court documents.
That charge has a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison. The misdemeanor child endangerment charges have a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
In those misdemeanor charges, police allege that she was aware that Martinson was not comfortable around the baby and that when he was around, the baby often cried, leading her to think that Martinson had hurt him.
“You need to understand that at this point he’s so use(d) to you hurting him that he sees your face and he feels like he’s about to get hurt,” she reportedly told Martinson a few days before the baby was taken to the emergency room for his injuries. “He’s not dumb, they can’t do a whole lot, but I think he’d be able to recognize that.”
She told police that she noticed that Martinson seemed to be suffering from depression and was anxious about the baby, according to the affidavit. He would pick up the baby “way too fast or too abrupt,” or pick him up by the armpits instead of cradling his head. Those actions caused the baby to cry.
She had asked his parents to talk with him and also suggested Martinson get some counseling to help him to bond with the baby.
She also had noticed bruises on the baby four or five different times, telling Martinson that “you’re hurting him by leaving marks on him," according to the affidavit. She also had seen the child with blood in his mouth and making gurgling sounds one time when Martinson was changing a dirty diaper.
Bullinger had worked the night before the baby was found with the injuries, and noticed that the baby’s right leg was hurting when she got home. Martinson told her that he had been moving the baby’s legs in a bicycle move to help him with a bowel obstruction, adding that “I think I did it too hard,” according to the affidavit.
Despite knowing those things about him, she left the child in Martinson’s care, according to the affidavit, which prompted the child endangerment charges.