A Missouri couple has been charged with child endangerment after they allegedly allowed a child suffer with a serious staph infection for a year, even as the boy’s sores swelled to the size of baseballs.
William Robinson, 41, and Keisha Morgan, 35, were booked into jail in St. Clair County on Tuesday, KOLR reports.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation last October after school officials reported concerns about the boy’s condition. The boy reportedly had trouble walking or sitting because of the sores on his buttocks, staff at a local hospital told investigators. The child also had bruises that staff was told came from a fight with his brother.
Medical staff identified the infection as consistent with a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection, a particularly virulent bacterial infection that doesn’t respond to many common antibiotics and can spread to the bloodstream and “negatively impact growth and development.”
Court documents said that Morgan said she had been aware of the infection for about a year but had declined to seek medical attention, preferring instead to self-medicate, although she could not identify the medication she used.
Detectives further said that the sore were in various stages of healing, indicating a long-term infection.
Morgan also said that the same boy had reported being sexually abused by another child at the home but that she failed to report the allegation.
Robinson admitted pouring out the sick boy’s urine sample while at the hospital, saying he was afraid it might reveal alcohol, marijuana, or semen from the boy’s brother. He said he was afraid Morgan would lose custody of her children. He also admitted knowing about the sore and declining to seek medical attention for the boy.
Warrants were issued for the pair’s arrest, and the children have been removed from the home. Documents did not provide the age of any of the children involved or say how many children lived at the home.
Robinson and Morgan are each charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child. Morgan is further charged with felony abuse or neglect of a child, and Robinson faces a charged of tampering with physical evidence.
They’re being held on $25,000 bonds each.
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[Featured image: Keisha Morgan and William Robinson/St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office]
