Inset: Katherine Crosby (Tyler County Jail). Background: The Child Protective Services office in Tyler County, Texas (Google Maps).
A 39-year-old mother in Texas is accused of slamming her young daughter”s head into a wall as punishment, allegedly admitting to the abuse, then incredulously asking if such behavior is really against the law before coaching the victim and her siblings to lie to investigators.
Katherine Crosby was taken into custody earlier this month and charged with one count of felony injury to a child, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigator on June 6 observed that Crosby’s daughter, whose age is redacted from documents but is under 14, had a black eye that was bruised and swollen. The child told the investigator that “when someone in their house gets angry, they get punched, their nose gets broken, they get black eyes, or their head gets banged into the door.”
“[The victim] stated ‘my mom did this to me and it hurt really bad,'” the affidavit states. [She] stated that her mom placed her in the corner for misbehaving and then her mom, Katherine Crosby, walked over to her, grabbed the back of her head, by her ponytail and slammed her head into the wall causing the black eve. [The victim] stated that her mom was angry with her and that was why her mom did this. [She] stated again that it ‘hurt really bad.'”
Crosby’s daughter told police that her mom gave her the black eye on June 5, but that it was not the first time she had been forced to endure such alleged abuse. She also noted that her mother did not get her medical attention or give her ice for the injury, police said.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox
In a subsequent investigation with investigators, Crosby allegedly admitted to harming her daughter.
“Crosby admitted to banging [the victim’s] head into the wall,” the affidavit states. “Crosby stated, ‘Yes I did it.’ Crosby then demonstrated how she did it, which was the same way [the victim] stated it happened. Crosby stated, ‘What I cannot do that?’ [The investigator] informed her that she could not do that to her child or children because that is child abuse.”
Crosby, the alleged victim, and the alleged victim’s sisters sat for interviews at the Garth House for Forensic Interviews on June 26. The investigator said that before the interviews even began, the alleged victim and her sisters said their mother “told them to lie” and “say that she didn’t physically harm” the victim.
The victim said Crosby instructed her to tell investigators that “she fell on a brick and that is why her eye was black and swollen.” The victim’s sisters said their mom also coached them to blame their sibling’s injury on a brick, police alleged.
The victim then stated, “Wait was I supposed to say that I tripped on a brick because that is what mom said to say,” according to the affidavit.
During a CPS meeting the following day, Crosby allegedly tried to recant her initial confession and tried to get the CPS investigator to question the kids again about her daughter’s injury.
“I want you to ask the girls again, in front of me, what happened to [the victim’s] eye because they will all tell you that I did not do anything to [the victim],” she said, per the affidavit.
Crosby was detained and processed at the Tyler County Jail in lieu of $125,000 bond on July 9 and released the following day, records show. The date of her next hearing was not immediately available.
