Monday, February 7, 2005 =B7 Last updated 6:55 p.m. PT
Texas couple accused of abusing infant
By PAM EASTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
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Ivan Castaneda leaves a Houston courtroom, after a probable cause
hearing, Monday, Feb. 7, 2005. Castaneda and Donna Marie Norman are
charged with injury to a child, in the case of their 6-month-old, who
police say was sexually assaulted, suffered broken bones from
head-to-toe and had her tongue nearly severed from her mouth. (AP
Photo/Pat Sullivan)
HOUSTON -- A young couple are accused of critically injuring their
6-month-old baby, who police say was sexually assaulted, suffered
broken bones from head to toe, and had her tongue nearly severed.
Donna Marie Norman, 19, and her common-law husband, Ivan Castaneda, 21,
were jailed without bail on charges of causing injury to a child.
The infant lay in critical condition Monday at a hospital. She was
transferred there last week after her parents brought her to another
hospital, saying she was suffering from congestion.
Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin said the baby had
been sexually abused, had two broken legs, a broken arm, a fractured
skull, a fractured vertebrae and a broken rib.
"Just about every vital organ in this child's body has damage to it,"
said Houston police Sgt. Randall Upton. "This child endured probably
some of the most incredible amount of pain that one could imagine."
Olguin said that if the little girl survives she could be blind or
paralyzed.
Norman told doctors the infant's tongue was severed when she tried to
remove a quarter from the baby's mouth that had been placed there by
her 15-month-old sister, prosecutor Kari Allen said
"Obviously, that is a bit far-fetched," Allen told a judge at a hearing
Monday.
The 6-month-old and her sister, who also had a fractured skull and
ribs, were taken into state custody.
Norman was "obviously upset about the situation that has happened to
her family and to herself and to her children," her attorney Jerald
Graber said. He said he had not yet talked to Norman about the facts of
the case.
Castaneda asked for additional time to hire an attorney.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=3D1110&slug=
=3DInfant%20Assault
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