Cache County woman facing felony child abuse charges

Melinda Stash. Photo: Cache County

SMITHFIELD, Utah, Sept. 11, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A Smithfield woman has been booked into the Cache County Jail, charged with two counts of second degree felony child abuse alleging that she intentionally inflicted serious physical injuries on her own children.

Smithfield City Police received a report of the purported abuse from the Division of Child and Family Services. An officer and a caseworker responded to the children’s school to interview the two.

The child who reported being jabbed in the neck said the incident “caused a large amount of pain,” and revealed injuries that supported the account, the probable cause statement says.

A medical examination of both children revealed “substantial wounds and abrasions, in different stages of healing, all over their bodies,” the probable cause statement says.

In an interview using Forensic Interview Techniques, “Both stated that Melinda perpetrates the abuse, and insinuated that the abuse occurs on a regular basis.”

Stash denied the abuse. A search warrant was served on the address at which the abuse allegedly occurred, and belts matching descriptions given by the children were seized.

Stash’s bail is set at $20,000.

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