By SUSAN MARSHALL

Staff writer

Katheryn Nycole Dale, 20, the mother of 19-month-old Vincent Hill of Newton, was charged March 31 with child abuse, aggravated battery, and two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child in connection with the child’s death.

Previously, her live-in boyfriend, Chad Carr, 26, had been the only person charged in the death of the boy. Carr was charged March 30, with two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of abuse of a child.

He had been at home with the child March 27 while Dale and her 6-week-old daughter were in Wichita at a baby shower. Carr called 911 about 3:30 p.m. because the boy was unresponsive and was not breathing.

Hill was pronounced dead at Newton Medical Center a short time later and Carr was arrested that evening.

No one had been charged with murder in the incident.

“Based on the information received through interviews, it was found the mother had knowledge of the abuse,” Harvey County Attorney David Yoder said. “She is held liable in the matter.

“She was charged with aggravated endangerment of a child because she knowingly left her son in a situation where severe abuse had occurred,” he added.

Yoder said investigators think some of the abuse occurred March 25. He also said Dale admitted to continually abusing the child herself.

The coroner’s office has still not released the cause of death.

In response to a reporter’s question at the press conference, Yoder noted that his office was not looking at charging anyone else in the death of Vincent Hill.

“Only Carr is being looked at for murder, depending on the results of toxicology reports from the autopsy,” Yoder said.

He also said that evidence indicated the injuries had not start recently.

“In both the pre- and post-autopsy photos there are very few parts of the boy’s body without injuries,” Yoder said. “In the 28 years I’ve been a practicing prosecutor, I have never seen injuries like this on a child.”

Yoder said the child’s right leg was twisted in an unnatural position, his left collarbone was fractured, there were severe cuts to his mouth, his left eye was swollen shut, and the toenails and fingernails were ripped out.

Additional charges were filed against Carr on Friday, which are not related to the death of the toddler. He was charged with 16 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

The sexual exploitation charges came from an investigation and search warrant that took place in June 2009. The search warrant was served at a different address than the one where Vincent Hill had been living. Carr had been living with Dale and her children since January.

The charges stemmed from the viewing, downloading, or trading of child pornography.

Also arrested for 16 counts of sexual exploitation of a child was Carr’s brother, Christopher Carr, 29. Bond was set for each at $75,000.

Bond for Carr in the abuse case is $150,000. For Dale, bond was set at $50,000.

The 6-week-old baby, Tarah Hill, was placed in SRS custody following a “child in need of care” hearing Thursday in Harvey County.

A funeral service for Vincent Hill was Saturday afternoon at Peabody United Methodist Church.