A Vancouver mother is accused of assaulting her 13-month-old son and causing multiple bone fractures and lacerations to his liver.
Kennya R. Marzano, 24, appeared in Clark County Superior Court Tuesday on a court summons. She stands accused of first-degree assault of a child.
The hearing also called into question why Marzano has been allowed to have custody of her younger child as the child abuse investigation progressed over several months.
Judge Greg Gonzales ordered that Marzano be jailed and held in lieu of $100,000 bail based on allegations of her violent behavior and concern for the safety of her children. He ordered that she have no contact with any children, including her own.
The victim, now 2 years old, and Marzano’s 9-month-old daughter were with Marzano in the courtroom. Relatives took custody of the children after the hearing.
Pretrial release officer Wendy Humphres said that prior to Gonzales’ order, Marzano was allowed to visit the victim, who is now in the custody of his father. The boy was briefly in foster care, according to court records.
Marzano had custody of her 9-month-old daughter until the no-contact order was issued Tuesday.
“The 9-month-old is living with her alone,” Humphres said.
“I’ve done everything I can to get visitation with my son and my other children,” Marzano told the judge, in an apparent reference to previous investigations by the state’s Child Protective Services. “This CPS was closed months ago.”
Mindy Chambers, a spokeswoman with the Department of Social & Health Services, said CPS records are confidential, hence she isn’t authorized to discuss the specific case.
However, she said CPS does a risk assessment of children born to parents with a history of child abuse investigations.
“If the parent is participating in services … we could make the determination that a specific child is not at risk even though other children had been removed from the home,” Chambers said.
DSHS services could include parenting classes, anger management classes and substance abuse treatment.
The alleged abuse happened more than a year ago. According to court documents, Marzano brought her son to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and reported that he was experiencing gas, abdominal problems and loss of appetite.
Medical personnel noticed that the child had bruises and scratches all over his body. He was transferred to Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. Tests showed that he had at least four rib fractures, two on each side of his body, two lacerations to his liver and a healing wrist fracture, court documents say. A doctor concluded that the injuries were likely caused intentionally by direct blunt force, such as a punch, kick or stomp, wrote Clark County sheriff’s Detective James Phelps in a court affidavit. One of the liver lacerations could have been fatal, Phelps wrote.
Dr. Dan Leonhardt said, “He would diagnose this as child abuse given any of (the child’s) injuries, including the bruising on his body and face, and that all of them together overwhelmingly show that (he) was seriously physically abused,” Phelps wrote.
According to court documents, the abuse is alleged to have occurred between Dec. 26, 2012, and Jan. 13, 2013.
In past reports to CPS, Marzano allegedly swore at her children and told them she wished they were never born, court documents say.
Marzano admitted to yelling at the children when she was stressed out but denied intentionally physically harming her children, court documents say. She told investigators in court documents that she believes her boyfriend, who cares for her son in the mornings, may have caused the baby’s injuries. However, she admitted that the baby’s wrist injury may have resulted from her dragging him by his wrist, court documents say.
Some of Marzano’s family members told investigators that Marzano has a history of anger issues, yells at the children and has called her children derogatory names. Two witnesses said they had heard Marzano threaten to drown her children.
Gonzales appointed Vancouver attorney Therese Lavallee to defend Marzano. She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Sept. 2.
