Aunt pleads guilty to child abuse charges

Aunt pleads guilty to child abuse charges

November 21, 2008 

PROVO, Utah (AP) — An Eagle Mountain woman charged with abusing children under her care has reached a plea deal.

Mary Heath on Thursday pleaded guilty to two second-degree and two third-degree felony child abuse charges.

Heath and her live-in boyfriend were each charged with nine counts of child abuse and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child. As part of the deal, the other charges against Heath were dropped.

The couple was arrested last month after police found Heath’s 9-year-old niece and 8-year-old nephew had been locked inside separate bathrooms and left alone for hours.

Both children were malnourished and bruised. A doctor later said the boy also showed signs of having suffered a sexual assault.