Parents Of Child Found With Burned Hand Charged With Neglect
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – An investigation into a report that a young child was being tortured has led to the arrest of two people in Ft. Lauderdale.
Irma Mustamu, 22, and Kenneth Chevelier, 29, have each been charged with child neglect with great harm.
According to Ft. Lauderdale police, their officers and investigators with the Department of Children and Families' Child Protective Services were sent out on February 4th to check out the abuse claims at a residence on W Commercial Boulevard.
At the residence, the investigators said found a young child whose right hand was wrapped in cloth. As the cloth was removed, it was discovered that the child's hand was severely burned, to the point that the child's hand was grotesquely deformed. Due to the burns, the child was missing one finger and had two partial fingers.
Mustamu, the mother of the child, reportedly told police that in August 2010 the child was severely burned by hot soup when they lived in Maryland. The couple reportedly left Maryland and did not seek medical attention for the child's injuries. Instead, they reportedly looked up on the internet how to treat burn wounds. In October 2010, Mustamu reportedly told police they took the child to the hospital for treatment.
Fort Lauderdale detectives retrieved medial records from Maryland that contradicted Mustamu's statements, detailing the child as having no physical injury as of October 27th, 2010.
On February 7th, 2012, the child was taken to a doctor in Florida by Fort Lauderdale detectives. The doctor confirmed that the injuries were consistent with that of abuse.
Based on their findings, Mustamu and Chevelier were arrested for not seeking proper medical treatment for the child. The location where the actual abuse occurred is still under investigation.
Bail was set at $50,000 each for Mustamu and Chevelier
