Taunton Woman Indicted on Child Abuse Charges

A Taunton woman accused of brutally beating her boyfriend’s two-year-old son has been indicted by a Bristol County grand jury.

The indictments charge 28-year-old Alanna Taylor with one count of assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, one count of assault and battery on a child causing injury and one count of witness/juror/police/court official intimidation, according to the Taunton Gazette.

On the afternoon of Dec. 11, emergency personnel arrived at Taylor’s apartment in response to a report of an unresponsive child. The severely injured child was airlifted from Norton Hospital to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence where he underwent five hours of surgery to reduce pressure on the brain. Police say Taylor told them that the boy injured himself when he fell off the toilet and hit his head on the bathtub.

However, according to court documents viewed by the Taunton newspaper, medical professionals at the hospital wrote in an assessment that the child's head injury was not consistent with a simple fall, but instead "consistent with greater blunt-force trauma directly to his head.” The assessment also said bruising to the child’s buttocks and ear “are consistent with inflicted injuries.” The report said the evaluation "is consistent with life-threatening inflicted injury and child physical abuse."

Taylor allegedly told police that she and the boy’s father have one child together, a 14-month-old girl, and that she has a 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. The Department of Children and Families confirmed that it took custody of the children and is collaborating with law enforcement.

At a dangerousness hearing in Taunton District Court on Dec. 19, Taylor was ordered held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth. The grand jury indictment means that the matter now moves to Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River. A date has not been set for her superior court arraignment.