A Massachusetts mother faces several charges after her son was transported to the hospital noticeably bruised.
Chantal Nguyen, 22, of Worcester, has been arrested after her little boy showed up to school so badly hurt that he couldn't even walk.
The police reports say when the 5-year-old showed up to the Wawecus Road School, he was in so much pain that he had to be carried up and down the stairs. His teachers called police and emergency crews right away.
Court documents say he had bruises on his face, head, arms, legs, buttocks and lower back.
"That's hard to believe," said Christopher Hulbert who lives a few houses down from the child and his family.
Neighbors on Duxbury Street were shocked when they heard Nguyen was arrested and charged with permitting injury and child endangerment.
"The parents are great, I have nothing bad to say about any of them," Hulbert said.
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Another neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, told necn, "That little boy adored his mom."
That neighbor's children go to school with the young victim and described a scary scene at her the Wawecus Road School Tuesday morning.
"My kids said the school was on lockdown and then they took the little boy out on the ambulance," the woman said.
Nguyen admitted to police that she had noticed suspicious bruises on her son's body before, but never reported it. According to the police report, Nguyen blames the man who lives with her for the abuse.
"If something bad is going on in the house, you've got to draw the line somewhere," said neighbor David Masiello. "It's the kids that matter, that's the bottom line."
Andrea Grossman, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, confirms the boy is now in their custody and the agency is working with police on this case.
Nguyen is out of jail on $1,000 bail. She has been ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with children under 16 and must abide by any DCF plan regarding her son.
The suspect is due back in court on Dec. 2. She didn't respond to necn's requests for comment.
