Indiana grandma gets 12 years in prison for disfiguring granddaughter
10/13/2020 12:15 pm PDT
via WXIN:
BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (WXIN) -- Gretta Feil, 50, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in the Indiana Department of Correction, followed by four years on probation for two counts of aggravated battery for burning and disfiguring her granddaughter.
According to court documents filed in the case, the victim was hospitalized on April 24 with extensive burns to her face, scalp and privates. The hospital's abuse team told police the child would have permanent scarring and disfigurement. A nurse practitioner claimed the incidents were not accidental. The nurse practitioner also told police that the girl was covered with bruises that they consider above and beyond what a normal child at that age would have from everyday activities.
Feil explained the burns by saying the girl got into her creams and lotions. She also says other adults dragged her over the carpet.
Police did not release the age of the victim.
WRTV reports Feil's two grandchildren had come to stay with her while their parents were home in Alabama. Over the course of three weeks, police and the Department of Child Services were called to the woman's Lebanon apartment five times for welfare checks, but were not able to contact Feil. There were reports of yelling and screaming, loud cursing and suspected drug use inside the apartment.
On April 22, police and DCS made contact with the grandmother and children, WRTV reports. According to the probable cause, the little girl's face was covered with burn marks. She was taken to Riley Hospital for Children where doctors reported extensive burns to the child's face, scalp and genitals, in additional to bruises all over her body.
The injuries appeared to be the result of punishment inflicted on the girl for urinating in her pants and having an accident on a sofa, WRTV reports. Burns may have resulted from scalding water. The child faces surgeries and skin grafts, and may have permanent scars.
Gretta Feil was charged with with five counts of battery and six counts of neglect of a dependent.
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