Mother of Four Convicted of Abuse, Sexual Assaults

An Anaheim woman who ran a day-care center in her home has been convicted of sexually assaulting two of her children and physically abusing an infant she was baby-sitting. The infant died.

The woman, whom Deputy Dist. Atty. Nina Brice called “a grotesque parody of a mother,” was found guilty Thursday of eight felony charges of physical and sexual abuse after a jury trial that lasted nearly two weeks. She will be sentenced Feb. 22 by Superior Judge John H. Smith Jr. in Fullerton.

The mother of four, whose name is being withheld by The Times to protect the children’s identities, was convicted of sexually abusing a son, now 15, in 1981, and a 17-year-old daughter last June.

She was also convicted of physically abusing another son and a 22-month-old girl who had been left with her. The woman’s fourth child, a daughter, testified that the infant stopped breathing after the defendant smothered the toddler and died several hours later at a hospital.

Brice said the woman was not charged with murder because “the coroner could not come up with an opinion as to (the) specific cause (of death).” The cause of death instead was ruled sudden infant death syndrome.

The woman’s two daughters, 16 and 17, are in one foster home, and the sons, 14 and 15, are in separate foster homes.

The defendant, who remains free on her own recognizance while awaiting sentencing, was arrested last June after her older daughter reported to school officials that her mother had assaulted her. The woman testified at her trial that she never assaulted her children.