The little girl was horribly burned.
Her arm was broken.
She had been sexually assaulted.
She was 3.
That was two years ago. Her 27-year-old former caretaker was found guilty last week of two counts of aggravated child abuse and will be sentenced May 12.
That woman, Yolanda Heath of Fort Myers, maintains it was all an accident.
On April 2, the same day a jury found her guilty, Heath posted the $10,000 bail and went home to await her sentencing by Lee County Judge Mark Steinbeck. She faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to state law.
"Everybody here knows it was an accident," she said Tuesday, referring to neighbors and friends at the Jones Walker Apartment complex. "It's crazy how these courts can just judge you like that."
On Feb. 6, 2006, Heath said she was in the bathroom of her Blount Street apartment when she heard the little girl scream at an ear-splitting pitch.
"I came out, and she had pulled a bowl of noodles down on top of her," Heath said. "It didn't look that bad at first, but then it progressed, so I called the paramedics."
That was Feb. 7 - 10 hours after the injury occurred, according to Fort Myers police officers. Discovery documents prepared by detectives indicate the burns, which were blistering when they arrived, were most specific to the girl's genitals, with additional burns on her stomach, back, buttocks and neck.
Further, the girl had a broken left arm that Guffrey described as appearing "deformed" and "caused by a severe injury and not a playground accident."
An examination also uncovered evidence of sexual abuse.
While DCF can't comment on home placement of children, Heath said the girl is staying with a woman she knows. She said she sees the girl on occasion.
"When she sees me, she screams for me," Heath said. "She cries because she wants me to take her with me."
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804090409
Who do the courts think they are? Judging people like that?!?! Dumbass....
Oh yeah...and she's not screaming FOR you retard, she's probably screaming in FEAR!!
