UNNAMED TODDLER GIRL - 2 yo (12/2013)/ Convicted: Mother's BF; Anthony Dylan Seawell - Amherst VA

Amherst man guilty in burning of child

Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 10:00 pm
Justin Faulconer

AMHERST — An Amherst County man was convicted Wednesday of malicious wounding and child neglect in the burning of a child in December that he claimed was an unfortunate accident.

Anthony Dylan Seawell, 21, was arrested in December and charged with intentionally hurting the 2-year-old daughter of the woman he was dating at the time.

He pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Amherst County Circuit Court on Wednesday and said he did not hurt the girl and was in another room when the injury occurred.

The child’s mother testified Wednesday she and the girl lived with Seawell and family members at a home in Madison Heights. On Dec. 6, Seawell was babysitting while the child’s mother went to work.

Later that day, the mother’s sister showed up at her job with the child, who suffered a second-degree burn on her left arm.

Seawell was the only one taking care of her, according to court testimony. The mother said when she arrived home, Seawell had left and called her shortly after to say he was sorry.

A flat iron that had been used on the child’s hair was used to burn her, according to prosecutors’ evidence. The child’s aunt said she had arrived home that day to find the child “kind of shaken.”

When she took the child into another room, the aunt said the girl burst into tears and showed her the injured arm. She notified family and the girl was taken to the hospital and treated; a forensic nurse examiner testified the second-degree burn showed “a very consistent” pattern that led her to contact authorities with concerns of abuse.

Laura Gilmore, a Lynchburg physician who examined the child, said in court the burn marks suggests an object was applied with pressure, rather than the injury being caused by a casual brush with the object.

The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Social Services interviewed Seawell; officials said in court Seawell told them he was in another room when the injury occurred.

Seawell testified he used the flat iron on the child’s hair, unplugged it and put it in the bathroom while he went to take a shower. She somehow hurt herself while he was in the other room, he claimed, adding he did not see it happen.

“I’m saying it’s an accident,” he said at one point while under cross-examination from Amherst County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Driskill.

Driskill said the child is left-handed and it would be highly unlikely to unintentionally burn her left arm. She asked Seawell why he did not immediately report the incident and why he told the mother he was sorry if he was innocent.

“She got hurt,” Seawell said on the stand. “I was watching her.”

Driskill said his statements to deputies were inconsistent and argued the injury was caused by intentionally holding her arm and applying pressure, an act she could not have done herself.

“This was a non-accidental trauma,” Driskill said.

Seawell’s sister said he cared deeply for the child and treated her as his own. There were no prior signs of trouble in the home, his attorney, Herbert E. Taylor III, said.

“We don’t know how that happened,” Taylor said of the injury, later adding: “I truly think this was an accident.”

Judge Richard S. Blanton said he did not doubt there was a good relationship between the defendant and the child prior to the incident. He also does not doubt, based on the doctor’s and nurse examiner’s testimony, the injury was a malicious act.

“That doesn’t seem very logical,” he said of having to accept the story that the child burnt herself.

Blanton found Seawell guilty on both charges and ordered a presentence report. Seawell will remain in custody and faces sentencing in Circuit Court on Aug. 26.

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/amherst-man-guilty-in-burning-of-child/article_cb272928-f70c-11e3-91f0-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=story