A Bristol woman, who was allegedly recently investigated for alleged child abuse, is accused of endangering her 14-month-old daughter in Bucks County.
Bristol Police responded to the home of Tatyana Rawlings, 23, who reported on March 9 that her daughter was experiencing seizures, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The child was taken to Lower Bucks Hospital where doctors found a slight swelling and a bruise on her forehead that appeared to be in the late stages of healing, the affidavit said. The child was later transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
Rawlings told police she thought the child hit her head on the crib, and that the baby often hits her head, the affidavit said.
She later alleged that while she was at work on
March 2, her fiancée, who she lives with, told her the child hit her head on her bed while he was watching her. The fiancée put ice on the bump, but Rawlings did not seek medical attention, the affidavit said.
The child underwent a full skeletal survey and CT scan which showed the child had a skull fracture on her right side and bleeding on the brain, which can indicate head trauma and bleeding in her eyes, the affidavit said.
During the investigation, police learned that the Office of Child and Family Services in Albany, New York had investigated Rawlings for alleged child abuse in November. The reports did not involve seizures but the child had previous unexplained bites and bruises, the affidavit said.
Rawlings allegedly told police she moved to Pennsylvania in January, according to the affidavit.
Three days before the child experienced a seizure, Rawlings alleged she was at work when her fiancée told her the baby threw up, which Rawlings attributed to “bad food.”
The day the child had the seizure, Rawlings alleged her daughter ate breakfast, played outside, took a nap, got up and ate lunch, but later didn’t eat much dinner.
The child went to sleep around 6 p.m. and about an hour later — when Rawlings said she was getting ready for work —the baby woke up crying and when her fiancée went to pick her up she had a seizure, the affidavit said.
A St. Christopher doctor determined the injuries as a “a clear sign of child abuse and neglect,” and that the child had to endure the blunt trauma injuries to the head on the same day for the seizures to occur.
Rawlings was arraigned Oct. 9 before District Judge David Chichilitti on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor reckless endangering. She is free after posting $10,000 bail.
Her attorney, Matthew Bingham Banks did not immediately respond to an Oct. 13, email seeking comment.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Seizure after a bump on the head leads to charges against Bristol mom
