A Gillette babysitter is facing up to 10 years in prison on allegations that a 2-year-old boy was severely scalded and bruised while in her care.
Raeanna Sams, 24, is out of jail on a surety bond and scheduled to attend a Jan. 23 preliminary hearing in Gillette Circuit Court.
Campbell County deputy attorney Daniel Reade charged her last Tuesday with one count of felony child abuse.
The evidentiary affidavit says a doctor called the Gillette Police Department to report that he suspected child abuse in the case of a scalded, blistering, bruised toddler who appeared in the emergency room the afternoon of Nov. 16.
The toddler’s parents said the boy had been in the care of Sams, sister-in-law to the child’s father.
Later, the boy was life-flighted to a burn center, court documents say.
Sams’ attorney David Holmes told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that the evidentiary affidavit doesn’t capture all the evidence, and the case deserves more rigorous fact-finding than has surfaced in the public so far.
“I think there are a lot of things going on here, and I think Ms. Sams is being villainized by the public (despite) really, some things they are unaware of,” said Holmes. “And I do think she’s been treated unfairly in the media up to this point.”
Holmes added, “we really look forward to proving that throughout this case.”
Holmes said he’d like to research the evidence fully and explore options in the case before airing evidence that may contradict what the affidavit says, but, “I can assure you there’s more going on than what the affidavit mentions. And we look forward to bringing some of that to light eventually.”
Court Docs Allege …
Gillette Police Department Officer Chance Quarterman responded at about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 16 to the Campbell County Health emergency room because a doctor had reported child abuse, says an affidavit Quarterman wrote, filed last week in Gillette Circuit Court.
The doctor told Quarterman that two parents came into the emergency room with their 2-year-old son, who had substantial burn marks blistering on his bottom and back.
He also had “significant” bruises all over his face and body, the doctor said, according to the affidavit.
The doctor reportedly said it looked as if the child had been dipped in boiling water.
When Quarterman visited the room in the ER, he found a small, blond-haired toddler running around naked, he wrote.
Dad Interview
Quarterman asked the child’s dad to speak with him outside of the room, and the dad complied.
The dad told the officer that he had to work that morning. He and the child’s mother are separated, and she lives in Wright, he said.
The dad typically has his sister-in-law, Raeanna Sams, babysit the toddler while he’s at work, the affidavit relates.
Raeanna had taken the boy to her home in Gillette that morning.
At about 30 minutes after noon, she called the father saying she needed to take the toddler to the hospital, the document says.
The father asked why.
The babysitter said he’d been burned, Quarterman wrote.
The document says the child’s father went to Sams’ house, and she then explained to him that the child had had a bowel movement in his diapers which plumed out onto his pajamas; so she stripped his clothes off and put him in the bath.
When she went downstairs to put the dirty clothes into the washing machine, she returned to the bathroom to find the child screaming, according to the father’s recollection of Sams’ account.
Sams said the child's back was red but not then blistering, and she continued to wash him. She said she contacted the toddler’s father when the blisters formed on his back, the affidavit relates.
Mom Interview
Quarterman next interviewed the child’s mother, who also had only Sams’ account to relate since she wasn’t present for the incident, the affidavit says.
The mother said she was in Gillette that day because she was starting a new job soon and needed to buy work clothes.
There were no marks or bruises on her boy when she’d last seem him at around 8:30 a.m., the mother said.
She also said she’d reported earlier issues to the Gillette Police Department about Sams, and believed Sams had burned the boy on purpose, the document relates from the mother’s interview.
‘Lashing’
Quarterman reentered the hospital room and gained permission to take photos of the child, he wrote.
The document says the child squirmed on the bed during the photography effort, popping blisters on his body.
A large black-and-blue bruise spanned the child’s entire forehead, wrote Quarterman, adding that large bruises and marks underscored both of the toddler’s eyes.
The officer noted a large “lashing” mark across his back.
Phone Call Time
Quarterman called Sams and asked her to come to the police department for an interview.
She opted for a phone discussion as well, and delivered the same account she’d reportedly told her brother-in-law earlier, the affidavit says.
She added that when she found the toddler upstairs, the water knobs were turned up “as hot as it could go” and the cold water had been turned off.
The bathroom steamed, and the water burned her own hand when she touched it, she said, reportedly.
“When I asked Raeanna about the bruising, she explained her 6-year-old son had hit (the toddler) with a play sword,” wrote Quarterman.
Quarterman asked if there were other reasons for the injuries.
While she undressed the boy before putting him in the tub, he fell back onto his bottom, she answered.
Quarterman contacted the Department of Family Services. The officer and DFS personnel went to Sams’ home to speak with her further, where she reiterated what she’d said on the phone.
She also said that when she found the toddler in the bathtub, he was throwing himself around in it.
This House Has Cameras
Investigators noticed that the home’s interior has a functioning camera system.
Quarterman asked to review the video.
When he watched the video, Quarterman saw in it footage of Sams and the boy on the home’s main level; him standing on the floor, and her wiping something off the floor and swearing about the boy soiling his clothing, the document says.
She “continuously” yelled at the toddler to go upstairs to the bathroom, wrote Quarterman.
She yelled at him to hurry, adding “f***ing disgusting!” according to the affidavit.
Blocked by a shut door, another camera captured audio, but not video.
Quarterman heard Sams yelling at the boy; he heard banging, followed by sounds of the toddler crying, the document says.
Another video shows Sams coming down the stairs with a white trash bag, remaining downstairs for between two and three minutes while the boy was left alone in the bathroom.
“It should be noted that Raeanna states that (the boy) requires prosthetics to walk and move normally,” Quarterman wrote.
The main level camera showed the woman and child descending the stairs, the child still naked. Sams “continues to yell at (the boy) to turn around,” and the boy complied, the affidavit relates.
“It is unknown what Raeanna was doing at this time, but Raeanna reported she was putting ‘ointment’ on (the boy),” Quarterman added.
She called the child’s father and asked him to come to her home.
Interview, Other Child
DFS personnel spoke with Sams’ 6-year-old son.
The child said his mother told him to tell investigators that he’d hit the toddler with the sword, according Quarterman’s account of that interview.
The 6–year-old told the investigator that he saw Sams pushing the toddler, and he heard the toddler crying, reportedly.
“I later re-interviewed the 6-year-old who did not clarify if he was instructed to lie to law enforcement but did state that he observed his mother, washing (the toddler) with the detachable shower head from the shower,” wrote Quarterman.
Sams confirmed later she washed the boy with the shower head, he added.
The document says the child was life-flighted to a Denver, Colorado, burn center.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
