A Bristol Township woman is accused of hitting her son with spoons, spatulas and a cellphone charging cord and forcing him to kneel for extended periods of time for not doing his homework or finishing his lunch.
Bristol Township police opened an investigation earlier this year after the boy, who is under 13 years old, was brought to an emergency room by his stepmother who alleged a social worker suggested she have him medically examined.
The social worker suspected the boy was physically abused while in the custody of his 38-year-old biological mother during a two-week visit, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
This news organization is not naming the defendant to protect the identity of the child victim.
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At the hospital, doctors documented multiple marks and injuries on the boy’s back, shoulder area, collarbone and groin, the affidavit said.
The child also disclosed to an emergency department social worker that the defendant frequently became angry with him and hit him with her hand and spatula and that she placed a phone charging cord around his genitals and “pulled it hard,” the affidavit said.
The child also alleged that his mother did not subject his brother to the same treatment and he did not feel safe in her home, the affidavit alleged.
At a subsequent forensic interview at the Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center, the boy allegedly disclosed his mother would physically punish him using a phone charging cord once and wooden and metal spoons or her hands on other occasions.
The child told the interviewer that he was whipped with the cord cable because he didn’t finish his lunch, the affidavit said.
The boy alleged his mother ordered him to remove all his clothing including underwear and then whipped him with the cable on his back, chest, leg, arm and groin area.
He alleged his older brother was taking out the trash when the incident happened and didn’t see it; and no one else saw what happened.
The boy also disclosed that after these alleged assaults, his mother forced him to take cold showers as a form of punishment, the affidavit said.
In the interview, the child said that he visited the school nurse after he was assaulted, but he could not remember what he told her, the affidavit said.
The boy’s father told police that he was notified his younger son went to the nurse complaining about pain in his collarbone and chest area following a visit with this mother in early June, the affidavit said.
The nurse contacted child protective services, who called the father and recommended the child be taken to a hospital ER for an evaluation, the affidavit alleges.
The father also alleged he previously found marks on his son's back in 2025, after he had a visit with his biological mother. At the time, both his sons told him their mother hit the younger one with kitchen utensils, the affidavit said.
His younger son also told his father that his mother forced him to kneel on the floor for “extended periods of time” as punishment and he was forced to take “long cold showers” for not listening to her, the affidavit alleges.
The father reported that he contacted child protective services at that time, but that the marks had resolved by the time the boy was examined, the affidavit said. The father alleged he kept a video recording he made of the boy’s injuries from the 2025 incident.
The boy was referred to a second evaluation at the St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children Child Protection Program which was conducted in July. The physical exam showed injuries including evidence of bruising and marks in various stages of healing on the boy’s body, the affidavit said.
The doctors concluded that the boy had injuries consistent with being inflicted by a flexible object, such as a cable or cord, the affidavit said.
The doctors also noted that cold showers and being forced to kneel for extended periods of time were “inappropriate physical punishment and are extremely concerning for physical abuse,” the affidavit said.
The defendant was arraigned Oct. 7 before District Judge Kevin Wagner on felony charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child, and misdemeanor simple assault.
She was transferred to Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail, and had no legal representation as of Oct. 9, according to the public court docket.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Woman charged with allegedly hitting her son with spoons, cellphone cord
