Pennsylvania woman who scalded 2-year-old daughter in bathtub till her skin peeled off denied a new trial
TIOGA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: A woman who was convicted of child abuse after she scalded her two-year-old daughter in the bathtub and did not seek immediate medical attention, has been denied a new trial.
Kristen Spaulding, 40, had been sentenced to 14 months to five years in prison after a Tioga County jury convicted her of aggravated assault and child endangerment in connection to the disturbing incident last year, according to Penn Live.
Her toddler daughter had suffered second-degree and third-degree burns to nearly half of her body in December 2017 and needed skin grafts for some of her gruesome wounds.
However, in her ultimately failed appeal to a state Superior Court panel, Spaulding and her lawyers argued that she did not get a fair trial because the prosecutor gave a "prejudicial closing argument" that had improperly sought to invoke sympathy for the victim.
She also said the prosecutor had unfairly questioned and highlighted her decision not to testify in her defense during the trial.
In its ruling, set in an opinion by Judge Jacqueline O Shogan, the panel noted that county Judge J Michael Williamson had already refused to grant the defense's request for a mistrial based on the District Attorney's closing and had given the jury instructions regarding the 40-year-old's constitutional right to remain silent.
Shogan said that gesture was more than sufficient because in no way did the DA's closing statement cross the line.
"Read in the context in which the prosecutor’s statements were made, we agree with the commonwealth that rather than referencing (Spaulding’s) right to remain silent… the (DA) was merely pointing out that (Spaulding) told several different stories to several different people, each of whom testified, about what occurred," the judge wrote.
"Based on the injuries to the victim and the expert testimony of the treating physician, (Spaulding) failed to take the necessary steps to provide for and protect her child," she added.
Indeed, investigators who handled Spaulding's case had said that her daughter is continuing a painful recovery from the scalding.
Shogan, citing a doctor's testimony, pointed out that the mother told him her child did not suffer any injuries but, at the same time, had sent text messages to a relative right after giving the bath that indicated otherwise.
"There’s something all over [Victim’s] body, they’re like jelly bubbles and her skin is peeling," one of the texts reportedly read. The texts also included photos of her daughter in a diaper with her burned skin sloughing off her body, Shogan noted.
"Thus, with an awareness that her child was in pain and had skin peeling off of her body, (Spaulding) neglected to seek medical care," the judge wrote, ruling that Spaulding did not deserve a new trial.
The 40-year-old's five-year sentence is relatively light in comparison to those handed out to others accused of similar crimes.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported how an Alabama couple had been sentenced to 40 years in prison after they were found guilty of intentionally burning and scalding two children in a bathtub as a form of punishment.