LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A Eustis, Florida, woman is facing an aggravated child abuse charge after the 4-year-old left in her care told authorities how he sustained peculiar injuries that landed him in an emergency room in February.
According to WFTV, the boy was taken to the emergency room with grape-sized bruising around his eyes as well as bruising around his ears, shoulder and lower back.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department issued an arrest warrant for Amber Chapman on Friday and took the 35-year-old babysitter into custody the following day, WFLA reported.
Chapman, who was caring for the boy at the time he was hurt, was arrested after the boy told medical personnel that “Miss Amber” placed him in the clothes dryer with towels and he spun around, WFTV reported.
The boy told sheriff’s deputies several days after the emergency room visit that Chapman placed him in the dryer, closed the door and he “went round and round.” The child said Chapman then opened the door, closed the door again and he “went round and round,” the TV station reported.
Although a Child Protection Team was unable to determine if being placed in the dryer caused the boy’s injuries, the medical report indicated that the boy’s account is consistent with the severity of his injuries, WFTV reported.