SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Feb. 28, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman who runs an unlicensed daycare in West Jordan has been charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse, intentional or knowingly, after an infant left in her care was found to have a skull fracture and other head injuries in various stages of healing.
Leslie Ann Percell, 51, faces the three charges, which are second-degree felonies.
A news release issued Wednesday by the Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office says the infant’s mother first noticed a problem in October of last year, when the baby was 3 months old. The mother picked up the baby boy from Percell, “and the infant was whining and acting off,” the SLCo DA’s Office statement says.
“Later, while trying to feed the child, he threw up several times and continued to throw up throughout the night.” The mother took the baby to a doctor the next day, the statement says.
The mother noticed similar symptoms after the child was picked up from Percell on Dec. 7 of last year. The mother also noticed a bruise on the baby’s ear, the statement says.
“The 4-month-old baby was then taken to an emergency room, and a physical exam showed signs of several recently inflicted injuries, including a skull fracture consistent with the diagnosis of abusive head trauma. While examining the infant, medical personnel also discovered an intracranial injury that had occurred approximately five weeks prior. It is alleged that the defendant abused (the infant) while babysitting him,” the statement says.
“No child should have to experience what this infant had to go through to receive the injuries that he is now living with,” SLCo DA Sim Gill said in the released statement. “Our hearts go out to the family of this young child and hope the best for them on their road to recovery.”
