Girl starved, beaten; Mukilteo woman arrested
Girl starved, beaten; Mukilteo woman arrested
A 34-year-old Mukilteo woman is in jail, accused of abusing a 10-year-old girl by starving her, burning her with cigarettes, threatening to drown and kill her, and beating her with electrical cords.
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
A 34-year-old Mukilteo woman is in jail, accused of abusing a 10-year-old girl by starving her, burning her with cigarettes, threatening to drown and kill her, and beating her with electrical cords.
Mary Mazalic is being held on $500,000 bail. Snohomish County prosecutors expect to charge her with first-degree assault and criminal mistreatment of a child on Monday.
According to police, the investigation began on Aug. 15 when state Child Protective Services (CPS) received a report of possible abuse from a caller who said that the child was emaciated, had a sunken face and a gash on her arm, and was with a woman who was verbally abusive.
Because it was after hours, CPS asked Mukilteo police to perform a welfare check on the girl, who was living with her older brother and Mazalic, his girlfriend.
The girl and Mazalic were not home, but the officer returned later.
According to a document of probable cause filed in Everett District Court, the girl initially told police that she was fed three meals a day and was treated well, but obvious wounds on her body — which included bruises and what appeared to be a bite mark — belied her words.
She was taken into protective custody and admitted into an Everett-area hospital, where she spent several weeks recovering from her injuries, according to court documents.
Physicians told police that the girl had "severe malnutrition" and a kidney infection, and that she was covered with bruises, abrasions, scars and ulcers, and had cigarette burns on her feet and wrist, and "whip cord" marks all over her abdomen and chest.
In addition, medical records indicate the girl repeatedly asked for food, even while eating, court documents say.
The girl weighed 51 pounds, police said, compared with a normal weight for her age of 88 pounds.
The girl has gained about 20 pounds since she was removed from the home.
Court documents say that after the girl was placed in a foster home, she disclosed that she also was forced to sleep in a bathtub in the basement, held underwater in a bathtub, and gagged with a sock or ball to keep her from screaming.
CPS spokeswoman Sherry Hill said the girl has been adopted by a family that lives in New York, but had been residing with her adoptive brother and his girlfriend Mazalic in Washington for about a year.
Court documents also state that a 16-year-old boy who was being cared for by Mazalic and her boyfriend in 2009 asked to remain in a juvenile-detention center in Everett rather than be returned to the home.
He said he was fed only oatmeal and beaten with a wooden paddle.
According to The Herald of Everett, the couple denied mistreatment of the boy and he was returned to the home.
Hill said that state law prohibits her from disclosing information about any case unless a child has been found to be fatally or seriously injured. She did say that the agency had "no other prior contact" with Mazalic and her boyfriend in connection with the 10-year-old girl.
She said social workers are working with their counterparts in New York to determine whether the girl can be returned safely to her family in New York.
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com