Rock Rapids, Iowa — An Inwood woman who was arrested on felony child endangerment charges after an investigation into two incidents in 2022 in Inwood has been sentenced to a suspended jail term, probation, and a fine.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the Lyon County Clerk of Court’s Office by the county sheriff’s office, 27-year-old Hannah Olson of Inwood was accused of injuring one child and not seeking help in a timely manner for an injury to another child. She was arrested in December 2022.
The first complaint states that a six-month-old under Olson’s care at daycare was taken to a hospital after he was found unresponsive. The six-month-old was diagnosed as having abusive head trauma believed to be the result of a “shaken baby” injury. During an interview, the deputy says Olson admitted to becoming frustrated with the child and shaking the child on her hip in a violent manner.
The second complaint states that a 24-month-old in Olson’s care suffered a severe burn to his right hand after his hand entered a pot of water in the sink that had just been used to boil hot dogs. Olson stated she ran the child’s hand under cold water and applied burn cream. Olson is then accused of failing to notify the parents or any other medical care provider for over three hours of the serious burn incident. The complaint states that by the time the family was notified, the child’s skin had separated from his right hand, and the hand had suffered severe damage. During an interview, the deputy says Olson agreed that calling for help sooner may have prevented some of the ongoing medical issues the child still faces.
Olson was charged with two counts of child endangerment, causing serious injury. If she had been convicted of a class C felony, she could have faced up to ten years in prison.
She requested a bench trial, which is a trial by judge only, without a jury, and was granted the request. In a plea bargain, she pleaded guilty to one county of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor. She was sentenced to one day short of a year in jail, with all but 14 days suspended, which had already been served. She was also sentenced to two years’ probation, and she must pay an $855 fine.
KIWA Staff Photo
