
Letting the child's punishment really really fit the child's crime, eh?
WEBSTER – A child abuse suspect who police say repeatedly threw her 8-year-old stepdaughter down a flight of stairs was arrested yesterday in Florida.
Cara LeBlanc, 29, will face charges of first-degree assault and criminal restraint when she returns to New Hampshire, police said.
WBBH-TV in Fort Myers reports that Cara LeBlanc waived extradition in a court hearing this morning.
Webster police Lt. Phil Mitchell said the girl suffered kidney and liver damage, three broken vertebrae in her neck and three broken ribs as a result of the attack Thursday.
"I've never seen a child-abuse case this severe,'' he said yesterday. [Note from NBFH: I have.]
The girl's body was also covered with black and blue welts from having been repeatedly whipped with a belt over a nine-hour period Thursday, he said. The beating ended when the belt broke, police said.
Police say LeBlanc dragged the girl up the stairs by her hair seven times, then pushed her down each time. Leblanc also tied the child to a door by her hands and feet and force-fed her cereal during the ordeal, police said.
Mitchell said the girl was originally listed in critical condition at Boston Children's Hospital.
"She's getting better and is expected to recover, but it's going to take some time before she's well again,'' he said.
Police interviewed her Monday at the hospital.
The girl's father, Dan LeBlanc, took her to Concord Hospital Saturday, police said. Professionals there called police.
She was later taken to Boston for treatment of liver and kidney problems.
Two other children who were in the home during the assault -- a 7-year-old boy who police say is LeBlanc's biological child and a 5-year-old girl -- were not harmed. Mitchell said the state Division for Children, Youth and Families received a court order Monday to take custody of the children.
This is not the first abuse allegation investigated at the LeBlanc home, Mitchell said. Two years ago, police filed a complaint with state officials, but an investigation concluded it was unfounded.
More recently, a complaint was filed with the DCF by a former high school boyfriend of Leblanc's, Bill, who asked that his last name not be used.
He said LeBlanc is the mother of his 11-year-old daughter, who has lived with him for the past several years but still visits LeBlanc.
In March, he said, his daughter told him the 5-year-old was punished by being made to run up and down the stairs of LeBlanc's home for 20 minutes without stopping. The girl was also locked in her room from time to time, Bill said.
"I reported it to the state, but they said it was unfounded,'' he said.
Don't get me started.
No, really, don't.
Full story here.
And a related Spare the Rod Spoil the Child kinda story, here, via Buddhist Jihad.