SUMTER, SC (WBTW) – A woman who moved to Sumter on Tuesday from Louisiana has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child after the woman took a 7-year-old female to the KershawHealth Medical Center in Camden for treatment Thursday night. The hospital notified Kershaw authorities when they suspected child abuse, who then notified the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Jaqueline Raysor, 55, of Sumter, is being held at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center on a charge of unlawful conduct to a child.
Investigators determined that Raysor and two children, a 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy arrived in Sumter on Tuesday.
Thursday night, Raysor showed up at the KershawHealth Medical Center Emergency Room with the 7-year-old who was suffering from a severe burn to her foot. The girl also showed signs of having been beaten with various bruises and other marks on her body.
The child has been taken into emergency protective care and is being treated at Palmetto Children’s Hospital in Columbia for severe injuries. The girl’s 9-year-old brother has also been taken into protective custody, confirms Ken Bell with Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman claims to be the children’s grandmother and said her own daughter, the children’s mother, is deceased. She reportedly came to Sumter to reunite with the children’s grandfather.
Sumter authorities had grounds to charge the woman because she admitted moving to Sumter on Tuesday although she did not seek medical treatment for the child until Thursday night, says Bell. Medical personnel determined the injury happened before Tuesday.
Investigators are working with Louisiana authorities to validate the woman’s claims and to see if there are any reports of child abuse involving her there.
Charges could be upgraded if the child’s injuries prove to be more severe than first indicated. Other charges could also be forthcoming, states Bell.
