
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 27, 1995                   TAG: 9509270049
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CHILD ABUSER GETS 2 YEARS, FACES MORE

A Roanoke woman who was on probation when she bit, burned and bruised a 17-month-old boy in her care was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison - the balance of a suspended term she received in 1992 for distributing cocaine.

Tonya L. Basham, 24, still faces another 30 years for the abuse of Anthony Harvey, a toddler who was discovered seriously injured in her apartment on Hunt Avenue Northwest in March.

Because Basham was on probation for the drug charge at the time of the offenses, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom asked Tuesday that a two-year sentence, suspended in 1992, be imposed.

Basham had been ordered to serve the first three years of a five-year sentence, but was paroled after less than a year in 1993.

Last month, she was convicted of malicious wounding and child neglect in connection with the abuse of Anthony. The child, who had been left with Basham while his mother looked for a place to live, suffered a wide range of injuries - including burns to his feet and buttocks and a bite wound to his cheek.

In a statement to police, Basham admitted causing most of the injuries while disciplining the child, but said she did not intend to seriously hurt him. The boy also had cocaine in his bloodstream when he was admitted to Community Hospital; Basham said it must have been from exposure to a friend who she said was smoking crack around the toddler.

Anthony's mother, Tammy L. Harvey, who authorities said knew of the abuse but did nothing, also has been convicted of child neglect.

by CNB