Tulsa Foster Mother Charged With Felony Child Abuse

A Tulsa foster mother is facing felony child abuse charges after an elementary school nurse reported injuries declared "consistent with excessive punishment or abuse."

A warrant was issued on May 22 for the arrest of Shannon Becktold, 30. She was arrested Thursday and booked into the Tulsa County jail on two complaints of child abuse by injury and released on $50,000 bond four hours later.

According to court documents filed in June, a 6-year-old girl went to her school nurse on Feb. 8 and complained of leg pain. The nurse observed bruising on her upper thigh, which the child said was from a spanking the day before.

The child told the nurse she was spanked with a belt for hiding food under her bed, a probable cause affidavit says.

Tulsa police and the Department of Human Services also responded to the school that day to observe the bruising and welts. Upon learning there were two other children – ages 3 and 12 – in the home, DHS took all three into immediate custody, the documents say.

The children were examined by a doctor at the Justice Center the following day, and the doctor told investigators bruises on the 3- and 6-year-old children "were consistent with being struck with a flexible, straight object such as a belt or cord," and they were not normal childhood injuries, but those of excessive punishment or abuse, the affidavit says.