AUBURN – A Livermore Falls woman was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days behind bars for shaking her 2-year-old daughter.
Debra Noll, 34, pleaded guilty to assault in connection with an incident that occurred last summer.
On June 4, Noll’s 2-year-old daughter was rushed to Franklin Memorial Hospital with a swollen eye and bruising on her cheek, face and neck.
According to Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson, Noll admitted to police the next day that she caused the injuries by shaking her daughter five or six times, causing the girl’s head to bang against the frame of her bed.
Noll told investigators that she became frustrated with her daughter because she didn’t want to nap and was trying to get down from the bed.
The mother was initially charged with one count of assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The state agreed to dismiss the endangering charges in exchange for a guilty plea on the assault charge.
Noll, a mother of three, has no previous criminal record.
Robinson told Justice Ellen Gorman on Monday that the incident appeared to be an anomaly. He also told her that Noll is currently being treated for battered woman syndrome and post-traumatic stress, both of which may have contributed to her behavior.
Robinson and Noll’s attorney, Norma Murray, reached a sentencing recommendation before the hearing Monday.
Their recommendation – two years with all but 60 days suspended, followed by three years of probation – was accepted by Gorman.
The judge also agreed to delay Noll’s sentence until June 10 at 9 a.m. to give her time to work with the Department of Human Services on her daughter’s final placement.
The girl is currently living with her grandmother, but the state hopes to reunite her with her father in another state, Murray told Gorman.
As a condition of her probation, Noll is barred from having contact with her daughter without supervision.
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