Mother charged with child abuse

Published 10:47 pm Friday, April 18, 2014

A Suffolk mother has been arrested on charges of abuse and neglect of children and cruelty and injuries to children after police were called to her son’s elementary school in February.

Williams-Porter

Williams-Porter

Christine Travita Williams-Porter, 38, is charged with abuse and neglect of children and cruelty and injuries to children, city spokeswoman Diana Klink said in an email.

Police and emergency responders were called to Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School on Feb. 12, Klink said. The boy was complaining about pain and of being given medication not prescribed to him, she said. Williams-Porter is the one accused of giving him the medication.

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He was initially transported to Sentara Obici Hospital for treatment, then transferred to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. Investigators determined he had been physical assaulted by his mother, Klink said.

She added that the child had been placed in the care of other family members following his release from the hospital. An arrest warrant had been on file since March 6, but Williams-Porter was not located until April 17.

This is not the first arrest for Williams-Porter. In December 2011, she was charged with child abuse and neglect for beating her 9-year-old son and locking him out of the house because he lost a hairbrush.

The charge was later reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She pleaded guilty in August 2012 and received a sentence of one year, all of which was suspended, and three years of supervised probation.