Woman Charged with Child Abuse After School Finds Bruises
Posted
Siara Sparkman-ssparkman@timesuniononline.com
A Warsaw woman was arrested Thursday afternoon following a report of battery at Leesburg Elementary School Jan. 30. Shawndra Gaylord, 37, of 340 E. Levi Lee Road, Warsaw, was arrested for battery of a child less than 14 years old. On Jan. 30 the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department received a phone call from a Department of Child Services worker about a child who arrived at the school with noticeable bruises, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office. The victim told the school nurse and the CPS worker that she was hit with a paddle. Photographs were taken of the extensive bruising on the victim’s arms and buttocks. There was also an abrasion on the upper part of the victim’s right arm 4 to 5 inches long, the report states. During an interview with a KCSD deputy, the victim said Gaylord told her to clean the kitchen and her bedroom. The victim said Gaylord grabbed her by the hair and threw her down because the floor was not clean enough. Gaylord took a paddle from a shelf in the closet and struck the victim as she was laying on her stomach on the ground, the affidavit states. The deputy asked the victim during the interview when the last time she took a shower was, because her hair looked dirty. She said she is only allowed to shower on Sundays or Mondays. Gaylord was asked about the punishment, and said of the victim she “busted her ass.” She also said she hit the victim five or six times. When she was shown the photos, Gaylord admitted it was “not acceptable.” Gaylord is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on a $500 bond.
