Babysitter Charged After 5-Year-Old Bartlesville Boy Severely Injured

NewsOn6.com & Tara Vreeland, News On 6

BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma -- A Bartlesville woman was charged with child endangerment Monday after a five-year-old boy in her care was severely injured.

Her 13-year-old son was also arrested for aggravated assault and battery.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Washington County District Court, Lydia Larson's 13-year-old son assaulted the five-year-old boy "by raising him over his head and slamming him to the ground."

Larson, 37, was babysitting the child on June 14, 2011, and according to the affidavit, knew her son "had violent tendencies" and "allowed him to interact" with the five-year-old child.

Police say that after the 13-year-old assaulted the boy, he then refused to allow the boy to enter the home to use the restroom, which caused him to soil his clothes.  When the teen did allow the boy to enter the home, according to police, the boy began vomiting.

Read the police affidavit.

"I never seen something like this coming at all," W.L. Martin, a neighbor, said.  "He's polite and would call me sir. It's just a surprise I just can't believe this."

Police were called to Larson's home at about 9:48 p.m. that night.  They arrived to find paramedics on scene and the boy unresponsive.

"We always thought DHS should be called but we never had the guts to," Tina Parsons, a neighbor, said. "I wish now. If I would have known this would happen. I should have.

He was first taken to a Bartlesville hospital, then to a Tulsa hospital.  Police described the boy as having "multiple bruises, scratches, and abrasions on all parts of his body."

Bartlesville Police say Larson saw the injuries to the boy, but did not call the police until the child became unresponsive.  According to the affidavit, the boy spent five hours in surgery and which left him in critical condition.

Larson's bond was set at $100,000.