BANGOR, Maine — A jury late Tuesday afternoon found a former Orono woman guilty of aggravated assault for hitting her 9-month-old son on the leg and breaking it in November 2010.
Earlier in the day, the defendant, Lynn Crossman, 24, who now lives in Brewer, testified that she “smacked” her son on the leg, but not in the area that was broken. She also said she doesn’t recall talking to doctors at the hospital or giving a confession to the investigating detective.
Crossman said she remembers speaking with former Orono police Detective Andrew Whitehouse — who told the jury on Monday that she admitted sheassaulted her child — but not the specific questions he asked.
“I can’t recall [what Whitehouse asked], but I remember him asking a couple of questions,” the mother of two said.
The jury at the Penobscot Judicial Center began its deliberations early Tuesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from the lawyers.
The baby was taken to the emergency room at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Nov. 6, 2010, with a broken left femur and bruising, including hand prints that are a “classic injury” in child abuse cases, Dr. Kathryn Ruthledge testified Monday.
Ruthledge said Monday that she interviewed Crossman while others were in the hospital room, but the mother testified she had spoken with no doctors.
When Whitehouse interviewed Crossman, which took place at EMMC, social worker Catherine Dawson also was in the room and testified Monday that she heard the defendant confess to striking the child.
“She said she was holding the baby [and] he was crying for no reason,” the social worker said. “She was angry and she hit him. She indicated she hit him with the palm of her hand on his leg.”
Crossman also physically demonstrated for the detective and Dawson the downward striking motion she used, both Whitehouse and Dawson testified.
Crossman testified Tuesday that she hit her 9-month-old son after he kicked his brother while lying on a bed on the day before he was taken to the hospital for the broken leg.
“I smacked him on the leg and said, ‘No. We don’t kick,’” she testified.
She also said she did not hit him where the break was located. She said she first noticed swelling on his leg the day before he was taken by ambulance to the hospital but was able to change his diapers without his making a fuss.
Bruising on the boy’s back left by the hand of an adult, the X-ray of his broken left femur and hospital records led Dr. Lawrence Ricci of Portland — considered one of the state’s foremost medical experts on child abuse — to conclude the infant had been abused.
The doctor testified Tuesday morning.
“What is important is the inflicted [injury] on the back,” Ricci said of the child’s bruising, pointing to a photo used as part of the state’s evidence.
The “significant” break of the femur “shows what is called a buckle fracture, or bend, just above the knee,” the doctor said. “The bone is bent or buckled, requiring significant bending force.”
The baby’s mother initially said he had rolled off a bed two days earlier, which was not consistent with his injuries, said Ruthledge, an EMMC pediatric hospitalist who is called in whenever a child abuse case is suspected for children under the age of 21 months.
“Swelling would mean more acute — more recent” injury, Ricci said, adding that when the baby started crying in pain was near to “when the fracture occurred.”
Crossman changed her story when confronted by Whitehouse, the detective and Dawson said.
In addition to police, a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services was called and the baby initially was placed in the agency’s custody when Crossman was charged, Orono police Capt. Josh Ewing said at the time of her arrest.
Defense Attorney Stephen Smith asked that all references to the ongoing DHHS case not be admitted into evidence at the trial. The trial judge, Superior Court Justice John Nivison, agreed.
Crossman’s two children, the baby, who is now just over 2 years of age, and his older brother, who is around 3½ years old, went through foster care and are now living with a cousin and a friend, Eric Winslow, the children’s father said outside the courtroom.
“They’re both adopted,” he said.
“It’s been hard,” Crossman said of losing custody of her children. “We still get pictures and they’re on Facebook.”
Crossman said her children are loved in their new homes and she does not plan to fight their adoptions.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice for your kids,” Winslow said.
so she teaches him not to kick by hitting him hard enough to break the leg. and as for the “i can’t remember” tactic, BS. a decent loving mother, would most definately remember hitting her child hard enough to cause damage…………
There’s just no need to hit a child like that, more importantly a NINE MONTH old baby!
Why aren’t they allowed to use the DHHS case at all? That seems strange, does anyone know why?
I cannot even imagine doing that to any child, let alone a baby. She should confess, get counseling. Do the jail time, and hope that some day she can see her children again. But I fear, she probably will retain custody by some craziness of our state law.
Sadly, I suspect that a major factor in whether or not her children are returned to her would be whether the state deems them as “adoptable” or not…
The father stated that they have been adopted…Anyone know why he did not retain or petition for custody?
Probably because most DHHS cases involved multiple layers of hearsay, which is an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter. It would probably be impossible to eliminate the hearsay in a DHHS report.
“I smacked him on the leg and said, ‘No. We don’t kick,’” she testified.
No. Kicking is bad. Hitting is what we do. We hit people until we break their bones. But we NEVER, EVER kick.
I hope they run bone density tests on this child. I remember a case a number of years ago where the child had a rare disease that rendered his bones brittle. They were so brittle that even the slightest pressure would break them. The child was removed from the home until they saw the child was breaking bones in foster care as well. The parents were exhonerated and their child was returned to them.
It some rare disease were to be the case, it’d be my guess that he would have broken something before the femur.
what about the hand sized bruiseson the legs and back? Any excuses youd like to make for those? Shes unfit to be a parent. period.
If the child had such a disease, a blow to the back hard enough to leave a bruise would have likely resulted in broken bones to that area as well.
they should do the (bone density)test. I have had problems with my left leg since I was 14 and it could be part of the problem. FYI I am the grandfather (mother’s dad) and I live in FL. No one from the DHHS office in Maine ever looked into this. Besides my leg I have broken a few bones over the yrs real easy,including crushing bones in my right hand. I hope someone in DHHS sees this comment and gets in touch with me
“Dr. Lawrence Ricci of Portland — considered one of the state’s foremost medical
experts on child abuse”?
This so-called expert doesn’t even rise to the level of a Ufologist, but the State often calls him to play expert to convince the jury. He is terrible. I recall how this bogus testimony sent an innocent man to prison for over a decade. This same “expert” told BDN that most children are killed by their fathers or father figures, a complete bold faced lie. BDN ran with the story and headline and later had to retract it because all the REAL data clearly shows that mothers and women abuse and murder their children twice as much as fathers or men.
The real problem is radical feminists have lied and lobbied their way to the point that people just repeat their blatant lies again and again. Men get abused and murdered and their female killers go free or go to a mental institution for a couple of years. Women get killed, and laws are changed, bridges are named after them.
Women most often get away with their crimes because radical feminists and the multi-billion dollar DV industry effectively corrupted the judicial and legislative systems, and the spin reported through the media. Many people have good intentions but unfortunately the DV industry funded by Federal VAWA and countless state and private sources has been an absolute disaster that has hurt more people, more heterosexual families, and more children.
This is terrible, and the sad part is she can have more kids.
This poor sweet innocent baby would have NO CLUE at 9 mos. old what “no, we don’t kick” means. That statement to me is even more damaging. I am a mother of 2 and I can PROMISE you at 9 mos. if one of mine kicked another it was not intentional but accidental. At 9 mos. a baby has none to little control of their limbs.
i’m not a mom but its been my observation that they kick when they giggle and get excited and/or need or want something. same for clasping or clapping their hands furthermore you are so right there is no way the child at that age could know what she is scolding him for :( this story is so sad
Agreed. I don’t think this poor baby had anything to be excited about in his living conditions.
I know my post was removed but 1. I never said that all Main moms were bad and 2. I never said all women everywhere were bad. I just think that a LOT of Maine mom’s are terrible parents. So sorry you had get your liberal extremist “Professional Victim” Feminist feathers in a ruffle. My post wasn’t sexist in any way shape or form until your Liberal Mind twisted my words around and you actually put words in my mouth I never actually said. That’s what’s wrong with you liberal types. I was only stating a fact about what I’ve seen growing up in Maine. Actually I’ve seen far better mom’s out of state.
How on earth does a 9 month old know “no we dont kick”?
It states that “Department of Health and Human Services was called and the baby initially was placed in the agency’s custody” does that mean she got custody back while waiting for her case?
no
Ok the reason i asked was because i know of a somewhat similar case, and they dont have their daughter in their custody until all court hearings and such.
“I don’t recall” Sounds like that soldier in Afghanistan that has a convenient memory lapse of murdering all those civilians. Both could likely be true, but you have to wonder….
Parenting quote of the day- “Sometimes you have to sacrifice for your kids,” Winslow said
I can’t speak for all parents, but I would say we always sacrifice for our kids in many different ways, big and small. Having and raising children is never easy, pretty or painless It is hard, unrelenting and exhausting. You will redefine who you are, what you want and how you want it. Having said that-I can’t imagine my life without them, and I don’t want the easy way out. I made the decision to have children, safety and love is the least I owe them.
One of the many sad parts of this story is that by all accounts, their reproductive abilities could introduce more children into this mess. There is no right answer to help save a child the moment they are born to adults who have no ability to parent. Why is it so hard for some people to grasp that the ability to have a child doesn’t mean you should?
Growing up in Maine I saw that a lot. Even my own mom hit, slapped, and yelled. So what is up with Maine Moms? What’s their problem?
I guess Maine is the ONLY state that has abusive moms huh…….sure…. You keep right on with that thought…. Let me know how that works out for ya.
She was able to change his diapers without him making much of a fuss. This was after having broken her baby’s leg because the Baby had kicked another sibling. The poor baby was probably in shock.
I’b be a little hesitant to place this child with a cousin of Lynn’s or one of her friends. If Lynn does receive time behind bars here’s hoping they feel sorry for her and give her a little Break here and a little Break there. The other inmates could always say, ” Oh she fell out of her bed”
This is so sad, a mother in distress from crying children and the stress of lack of money and bank credit cards instilling fear with usury and constant phone calls of harrassment.
The woman was calling her parents for help as she had reached her limits and was at her wits end. How many parents have not been beside themselves with the stress and responsibility of child rearing. Who among us has acted like an angel all of the time? I say none of us.
Help this woman, she is not a criminal. Life is so hard for so many people. The banks suck so much from our hard earned labor, and our children suffer because of it. Look to the root of the problem.
This is so sad.
From what I’ve seen Mainers make bad parents. But of course my post will be taken down because Mainers don’t believe in freedom of speech. I’m not saying all Mainers are bad parents but most of them that I’ve seen are.
PS Stephen Smith is a retarded goober that has delusions of grandeur.