Dewey Mom Admits To Child Neglect In Scalded Toddler Trial

A Dewey mother agreed that she had neglected her daughter on the night the child sustained water burns in a too-hot tub.

Danielle Connor, 23, took the stand Tuesday afternoon. Connor was charged after Dewey Police say she left a 16-month-old toddler in hot water in a bathtub, causing "severe water burns" over 30 percent of the child's body.

When questioned by prosecutor Jared Sigler, the young mother agreed that she was responsible for her children on the night of the injury in January. She also acknowledged that the trial was being held because she hadn't been supervising the children closely enough.

Sigler asked Connor if that made her guilty of child neglect, and she said yes.

Tapes of Connor's interview with police were shown to jurors. Connor was visibly distraught and sobbing during police questioning.

Defense witnesses testified Tuesday afternoon that Connor was a caring mother who took precautions to keep her children safe.

The detective who investigated the case said Connor's home was neat, clean and equipped with child-protective devices like child-proof locks, gates and a safety seat in the restroom.

The state rested late Tuesday morning after calling several doctors in the trial of the Dewey mother charged with one count of child neglect stemming from a January 2012 incident in her home.

Prosecution presented several doctors from Wichita, Kansas which treated the toddler after she was flown there following the incident in a Dewey home. 

On Monday, prosecutor Jared Sigler told jurors that Connor changed her story to police about the cause of the child's injuries, at first telling them that a pot of hot water in the kitchen scalded the girl.

4/11/2012 Related Story: Judge Orders Dewey Mom To Stand Trial On Child Neglect Charge

Defense attorneys said Connor is a hard-working single mother who had taken steps to child-proof her home.

Under defense questioning Dr. Roger Cotner, an emergency room physician at Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville and physicians from the Children's Hospital in Wichita stated they did not see any signs of child abuse on the toddler.