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HEBER CITY — A Heber City woman who was babysitting an 11-month-old boy has been arrested and accused of abusing the child.
Elioreth Jimenez-Marin, 26, was booked into the Wasatch County Jail on Tuesday and charged Wednesday in 4th District Court with aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began on Friday when an 11-month-old boy was taken to Primary Children's Hospital with a brain bleed, according to a police booking affidavit. The boy's mother told police she dropped off her son at the babysitter's residence at 8:20 a.m. and received a call at 2:30 p.m. that he "was not doing well and not waking up."
On Saturday, doctors updated investigators, telling them the boy "was not doing well and that the child had severe trauma to his head which was consistent with shaken baby (syndrome) and stated this was nonaccidental," according to the affidavit.
Police said they were told that part of the baby's skull needed to be removed.
On Monday, police interviewed Jimenez-Marin, who said she was watching the boy and three other young children when she found the baby "laying at the bottom of the stairs" after turning away for a short time, according to the affidavit. "Elioreth told me she shook the child back and forth to get him to wake up and he wouldn't respond."
Later, however, the arresting officer stated in that arrest report that Jimenez-Marin said at first she didn't tell "the truth about what had happened because she was afraid she would never see her children again. Elioreth told me she knew she had to tell the truth because it was going to come out sooner or later."
The affidavit does not state what Jimenez-Marin allegedly told the officer at that point before she was placed under arrest.
