Mom arrested, accused of ‘child torture’ of 4-month-old baby
By Pat Reavy, KSL.com
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MIDVALE, Utah (KSL) — A Midvale mother was arrested Tuesday after police say was torturing her 4-month-old baby daughter by doing such things as burning her face, taping her mouth shut and taping her hands behind her back.
Lizbeth Hurtado-Breton, 36, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of child torture and two counts of aggravated child abuse.
On Tuesday, the Division of Child and Family Services contacted Unified police after a young girl was taken to Primary Children’s Hospital with severe burns on her face.
“The child also has several bone fractures and a brain bleed and several other injuries in different phases of healing,” according to a police booking affidavit.
When officers spoke to the girl’s father, he said “mom was trying to do a home remedy on the 4-month-old when she received burns on her face,” the affidavit states.
“The father stated Lizbeth told him she held the baby over steam, then wiped the baby’s face with a napkin, which wiped off skin. The father reported there was a time when he returned home from work (and) found tape covering the baby’s mouth. (The father) asked the mother, Lizbeth Hurtado-Breton, why there was tape on (the girl’s) mouth and Lizbeth stated she would not stop crying,” according to the affidavit.
On another occasion, the father said he came home from work to find the girl’s arms taped behind her back “so the baby would eat,” police noted in the affidavit.
“The father reported witnessing Lizbeth shoving a baby bottle down the baby’s face causing the baby to choke on the milk and not be able to breathe. The father was able to provide photos of the baby with tape on the mouth, a video of the mother force-feeding the baby (and) a photo of the arm where he believed the tape had been,” according to the arrest report.
“The father stated Lizbeth wished the baby would have been a boy and believes this is why Lizbeth has been so awful to the baby and not awful to the older siblings.”
When questioned by police, Hurtado-Breton allegedly said she must have held the girl over a “humidifier” too long while trying to relieve congestion. Officers later clarified that the humidifier was actually “a cooking pot.”
“Lizbeth said her hands were feeling ‘very hot’ while she did this but she did not think about how the steam would feel on (the girl’s) face. Lizbeth stated she had brought the water to a boil to create the steam. Lizbeth stated the baby cried all the time and would not eat. Lizbeth said the ‘easiest thing’ to do was to put medical tape over (the girl’s) mouth to hold her pacifier in place in her mouth,” the police affidavit says.
Hurtado-Breton was booked into jail after her interview with detectives.
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