A northern Arkansas woman pleaded guilty to felony charges after investigators found her infant child had high amounts of drugs in her system, as well as a broken leg and multiple bruises.
Samantha Sue Laverty, 23, of Midway pleaded guilty Monday in Baxter County Circuit Court to second-degree battery and child endangerment after reaching a deal with prosecutors who alleged she caused severe injuries to her 18-month-old daughter.
Medical staff reported the abuse when the child came to a local hospital in September with a broken femur and “numerous” bruises to her face, arms and legs.
Authorities said Laverty also misled detectives about what happened when she told them she picked up her daughter and heard a loud popping sound. Another account involved the child becoming wedged between stairs outside of Laverty’s mobile home.
Doctors found the child’s injuries weren’t consistent with what she told the police, records show.
While being treated at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, the child tested positive for the main chemicals found in marijuana and methamphetamines, according to court records.
“The amount of methamphetamine present was 150 times more than is required to show positive in the body,” investigators wrote in a report charging her with battery and a pair of child endangerment felonies.
Court records show Laverty has two children. It isn’t immediately known whether the Arkansas Department of Human Services removed the other child from the home.
The agency investigated the abuse claims prior to Laverty’s arrest.
The convictions for each count to which Laverty pleaded guilty carry a maximum of six years in prison and hefty fines.
Her sentencing hasn’t been scheduled, according to court records.