Patrick Mcmahon
A three-year-old North Carolina girl is in critical condition after being hospitalized with third-degree burns, bruising and a possible head fracture. She’s currently at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s pediatric ICU, while her parents are in jail.
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Parents Justin Lee Osborne and Amy Leanne Clew have been arrested on suspicion of child abuse after police and paramedics identified the injuries as being consistent with abuse. Doctors say the girl’s third-degree burns likely came from contact with hot water.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said it was “one of the most severe abuse cases [he had] ever seen.”
The Statesville Record and Landmark reports that sheriff’s deputies received a tip about possible child abuse at the couple’s home in Harmony, North Carolina. When they investigated on July 1, they found a home “filled” with trash and feces, according to Sheriff Campbell. Worse, the home was “infested” with insects, namely roaches and ants.
Three other small children lived there, all aged 2 or younger. The arrest report says those children had ants in their hair and roach eggs in their diapers.
Both Osborne, 23, and Clew, 21, have been charged with felony child abuse and three counts of misdemeanor child abuse. They each have secured bonds set at $1 million.
