TAHLEQUAH —
A Tahlequah mother jailed earlier this year on accusations she burned her baby with an iron is asking for a reduced bond.
Jodi Leann Rock, 19, was charged with child abuse by injury and enabling child abuse by injury last May and given a $200,000 bond. Investigators said Rock admitted she used a flat iron, typically used for hair-straightening, to burn the 14-month-old boy’s groin and legs.
Rock’s attorney, Jim Cosby, filed a request this week asking a judge to lower her bond. Cosby argues Rock has not been charged with a capital offense, and no evidence has been presented indicating she would be a danger to the community or any person if she is released from jail.
He also said in the court filing the “proof of guilt is not evident, and the presumption of guilt is not great.”
The request has been set for a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 9 a.m.
Rock’s child was placed into custody of the Department of Human Services after he was taken to a Tulsa hospital. The boy had suffered multiple fractures and an “obvious deformity” to his shoulders, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Doctors told investigators one of the baby’s shoulder injuries was recent, while the other might have occurred 12 weeks before the baby was taken to a hospital. Forearm and wrist fractures had also possibly occurred in the months leading up to the hospital visit, where the baby reportedly appeared “glassy eyed,” “withdrawn” and in “agony.”
Rock allegedly told investigators a number of stories while being interviewed and tried to blame others. She eventually confessed she’d been using a hot flat iron to straighten her hair when she closed the iron on the baby’s genitals, according to investigators.
The child’s fractures, she reportedly told investigators, were possibly a result of “rough” playing, including when the boy would be thrown into the air and onto a bed, court documents show.
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