The mother of a 3-year-old girl was incarcerated and charged after it was asserted that she withheld food, neglected at home and medically, and abused the child to the point that the youngster almost died.
24-year-old Celia M. Lara-Licon lives in Joplin, Missouri, and she is the mother of three children with different fathers.
According to news sources, Lara-Licon, who received physical custody of her 3-year-old a year and a half ago, is in the midst of working with the Missouri Department of Social Services regarding each of her children and their respective dads.
During an interview with a state social worker on March 3, Lara-Licon allegedly told the worker that she had become “frustrated” since taking on full-time care of her daughter, and she reportedly said she behaved abusively toward the child. Lara-Licon allegedly reported that she typically took out her aggression by beating the young girl, in addition to jerking her arms.
One day later, Lara-Licon brought her daughter, who had been vomiting quite a bit, to Mercy Hospital’s emergency room.
One of the attending medical staff members reportedly discovered that the 3-year-old, who was said to weigh 25-pounds, had bruising on her face and would not talk during the examination.
Upon further medical examination, it was asserted that the youngster had not visited a doctor for the entire year and a half that she was in her mother’s custody.
After the girl underwent X-rays, nine of her bones showed fractures, and each break appeared to have happened at different times. The medical staff determined that it was due to an extended period of being abused.
The child was transferred to the pediatric ICU at Children’s Mercy Hospital where it was discovered that she was in kidney failure due to what was assumed to be a laceration in her pancreas. The specialist working with the girl was reported as saying that her condition was the result of “child torture.”
Later that day, Lara-Lincoln was booked into the Jasper County Detention Center. She is facing charges for first-degree domestic assault, child abuse, and child endangerment, and being held without bond. When she attends her scheduled hearing at the beginning of April the judge may consider a bond amount for her release.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a domestic violence crime, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.