Two 3-year-olds sent to hospital
Alexis A. Dahl, 26, Waupaca, is charged with two counts of felony child abuse and seven counts of felony child neglect.
Although she told investigators the boys had climbed into the tub while she was in another room, emergency medical staff found evidence she placed two 3-year-old boys into scalding hot water.
According to the criminal complaint, both boys were taken to a hospital with first- and second-degree burns on their feet, ankles and buttocks.
A physician at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah reported, “I do not believe the story that the patient had climbed into a bathtub and turned on the water themselves. Also of note there were no splash injuries that would be more consistent with turning on hot water that was ‘scorching hot’ from the faucet.”
The boys were transferred to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where a child advocate noted the appearance of the burns “suggest that the child was not moving during the immersion and likely was restrained.”
The complaint also notes one of the boys has been examined for a fractured elbow, a fractured hand and foot.
Multiple bruises and scratches on the children were reported as far back as June 2018.
Seven children, all younger than age 7, live in the house, and Dahl is charged with felony neglect of all of them.
A dog bit one of the children in the face, and another ingested insecticide, the complaint says.
Investigators say the house is infested with bed bugs, and several children have insect bites.
Dahl told investigators she could not afford to fight the bed bug infestation.
However, the complaint says she and the man who lives with her purchased motorcycles with their recent tax return.
Dahl was released from custody after posting a $5,000 cash bond.