DENVER — Melissa Wayne, the mother of a 2-year-old girl who was found dead over the weekend, was arrested Tuesday evening and is now being held on $200,000 cash bond for investigation of child abuse resulting in death.
Wayne was arrested just a couple of days after her boyfriend, 28-year-old Nicolas Stout was arrested, held on investigation for first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
In a five-page arrest affidavit, it was revealed Wayne was arrested after detectives and a forensic pathologist noted the 2-year-old girl "had multiple external and internal injuries that appeared to be a result from trauma and blunt force."
During Wednesday's court appearance, a prosecutor asked the court to hold Wayne on a $500,000 cash bond, going on to say Wayne, "observed every strike to this child's body."
The prosecutor also said "Ms. Wayne let this happen," and "she just sat there and watched."
The Denver judge went on to say he read through the probable cause document, which he said was "difficult to read in this case."
He added, "it's difficult for the court to put into words how ghastly the information in this probable cause statement is," and "the physical action is indescribable for me."
Crime
Court docs depict alleged abuse before toddler's death; Mom, boyfriend arrested
Diana Goldberg, the executive director for SungateKids, a child advocacy center, shares in that feeling.
"It never stops being heartbreaking. It never stops being tragic," Goldberg told Denver7's Veronica Acosta Wednesday. "No child should ever have to suffer like that."
According to the arrest affidavit, there was at least one other person in the home aside from Wayne and Stout.
Goldeberg told Denver7 that while civilians don't abide by the same "mandated reporter" rules as teachers and others, she does believe they have a moral obligation to say something.
"When you're talking about a child (aged) 2 and under, where they can't speak for themselves... they're not often in the public domain, they're not in school, they're not maybe in daycare," Goldberg said. "It's up to all of us as community members to keep an eye out and to protect our children, and that means sometimes doing what is uncomfortable and making a report to human services."
She continued, "Legally, there is a huge long list of mandated reporters, and that includes everyone from medical professionals to hairdressers to dentists, anyone who might have contact with someone where they suspect that child abuse is occurring. If they're on the list of mandated reporters, then they have a legal obligation to report, and they can be charged legally for failure to report," she said. "It happens occasionally with teachers or school professionals who fail to report, not so much with community members, but as someone who's not on the list of mandated reporters, you have a moral obligation."
Goldberg added anyone who suspects child abuse should contact the Colorado Child Abuse Hotline at 844-CO-4-Kids.
"It's staffed 24/7, 365 days a year. You don't have to know that a child is being abused," Goldberg said. "You only have to have a reasonable suspicion, and that's because the investigation needs to be left to the professionals."
While details about the cause of the child's death have yet to be released, the court documents state Stout blamed the child’s injuries on multiple falls. This contrasts with witness statements to police, alleging Stout was aggressive toward the child and that “smacking sounds” were often heard coming from the bedroom.
