NORTH LOGAN, Utah, April 8, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A North Logan mother was arrested April 1 after allegedly beating her child with a bag of frozen pizza rolls and kicking him in the head repeatedly.
A probable cause statement from the First District Court of Logan said Kassie Angel Tolman, 28, is facing a charge of child abuse — inflicting serious physical injury intentionally, a second-degree felony.
The arresting officer was assigned to investigate a child abuse case that occurred on March 30 at an address in North Logan, the probable cause statement said. Upon investigating the incident, the officer learned that the victim in this case, a 10-year-old boy, had been allegedly assaulted by his mother, Kassie Tolman. The officer first made contact with the boy on Sunday, March 31, when he was at his great-grandmother’s home in Richmond.
The great-grandmother said she had received a text from Tolman the night before asking the great-grandmother to come and pick up the boy and “that she [Tolman] could not deal with him.”
The great-grandmother said that when her husband returned to their house after picking up the boy, per Tolman’s request, the boy was tearful and shaking.
“She stated that the boy disclosed to her that Kassie had kicked him in the head several times,” the statement by the arresting officer said. “She stated that she observed several injuries to the head area of the boy and then documented those with photos at that time. During my visit I did not interview the boy, I did take photographs of his injuries. I observed and photographed multiple bruises and red marks on the head area of the boy.”
A forensic interview was scheduled to occur with the boy the following day.
During the forensic interview the boy stated that he was at Tolman’s home in North Logan, visiting as part of her and her ex-husband’s divorce agreement. He stated that Tolman was on the phone and had become upset with whoever she was talking with. He stated that she hung up the phone and charged at him and his little sister, who is 6. The boy stated that he ran down the hall and into his room and his sister ran into the other room at the end of the hall.
“The boy stated that Kassie entered his room and was yelling at him and pushing him,” the statement said. “The boy stated that when he got pushed he lost his grip on the bed and fell backwards and stuck the rear of his head on a crib that was in the room.”
The boy then said that Tolman then kicked his head repeatedly. He told officers that Tolman then left the room and began yelling at the little girl and he heard the girl begin crying.
“The boy then stated that Kassie reentered his room and had a bag of ‘frozen pizza rolls’ and began swinging the bag and striking him in the face with the bag,” the statement said.
When Tolman left again, she called his great-grandmother, to come pick him up.
A warrant was obtained for the residence of Tolman and was executed on April 1. During this warrant the scene was documented and matched up to the disclosure given by the boy.
Tolman was located and brought to the North Park Police Department for questioning. After being read her Miranda rights, she said she did not recall any of the events from that night at first. She then recalled that she was upset at the boy and that she tried to get him to go into his room.
“She stated that the boy lost his footing and fell backwards,” the statement said. “She stated that the boy was kicking at her and telling her that he hated her.”
She said she then exited the room and heard the boy banging his head, the statement said. She stated that she then observed the boy banging the back of his head on the floor and that the right side of his head was against a basket. She stated that is how he got his injuries. She did say that she slapped him on the upper rear of his head when he was on the floor.
A nurse who did the exam with the boy earlier that day said every injury on the boy’s head matched up with his disclosure.
“She also stated that she filed the injuries under potentially life-threatening due to the area of the injury and the severity of them,” the statement said. “She stated that it is highly unlikely that an individual would cause these types of injuries to themselves and place these injuries in such a place that they match up perfectly with a disclosure given, and even more unlikely something like this coming from a 10-year-old boy.”
The felony was committed while Tolman was out on probation, the probable cause statement said.
Tolman was transported to Cache County Jail, where she is being held without bail.
