Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509190044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tammy L. Harvey pleaded no contest to the charge and will face up to five years in prison when she is sentenced Oct.20.
Prosecutors said Harvey, 23, neglected her son, Anthony, by leaving him in the care of Tonya L. Basham, who lived in a Hunt Avenue Northwest apartment where the 17-month-old was beaten, burned and bitten over a two-month period.
Basham - the girlfriend of the boy's father - was convicted last month of child neglect and malicious wounding. She faces 30 years in prison and is to be sentenced Oct. 30. She has said she agreed to care for Anthony while his mother looked for a place to live.
"Just depositing your child on someone else to be responsible for their care is neglect," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner said. Harvey's case was compounded by the fact that she knew her son was being abused, Gardner said, but did not call for help.
The abuse, which spanned more than two months, came to the attention of police through a 911 call at 4 a.m. March 7, after Basham found Anthony lying unconscious in his bed.
His feet, buttocks and left ear were badly burned, his hands were swollen and bruised, his cheek was bitten, and his face and head were bruised.
At first, Basham said the child fell on a sidewalk and accidentally burned himself with hot water in the bathtub. She later confessed to causing the injuries, but said they were the result of misguided efforts to discipline the child.
Basham said she turned hot water on Anthony to teach him a lesson after he climbed into the bathtub; that she held a hot blow dryer to his skin because he was in her way as she tried to do her hair; and that she bit him on the cheek after he bit her on the finger and would not let go.
After she left Anthony in Basham's care, Tammy Harvey was told by a neighbor that he was being abused, Gardner said. Harvey visited the apartment and found her son suffering from bruises and other injuries, but did not seek medical help for him.
Assistant Public Defender William Fitzpatrick said Harvey had planned to take her son to the hospital the next day, but was unable to find a ride. Harvey had left Anthony in Basham's care previously with no problems, Fitzpatrick said.
After spending several weeks in intensive care at Community Hospital, Anthony was released to the care of foster parents. He has since been turned over to relatives. Basham and Harvey have remained in jail since being charged with neglect in April.
by CNB