LEWISTON — A local woman charged last week with failing to intervene in the abuse of her three children who suffered broken bones pleaded not guilty Wednesday to related charges.

Raven Sullivan, 21, of 50 Fairmount St., had been charged by an Androscoggin County grand jury with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Her boyfriend, 20-year-old Laquavius Hudson, is accused of abusing the children. He was indicted last week on three counts of assault on a child younger than 6 years old and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

According to court documents, one of the children is 18 months old. The others are 4 and 5 years old.

Sullivan appeared in 8th District Court on Wednesday to enter a not guilty plea. She was released on personal recognizance, but was forbidden to have contact with Hudson. She was allowed to have contact with her three children with the approval of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

She has filed a protection from abuse order against Hudson.

He has not had a court appearance on the charges.

According to court documents, Lewiston police began investigating Nov. 15 when Sullivan took her 4-year-old daughter to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center with a broken left arm. X-rays taken at the hospital revealed prior fractures of the same arm that were still healing.

Medical officials at St. Mary’s referred the case to DHHS, which ordered that the other two children be examined, as well.

On Nov. 17, all three children were examined at Spurwink Services in Portland.

According to a court affidavit written by Lewiston Police Detective William Brochu: “Healing fractures of varying ages were discovered for each child. The reports concluded that Sullivan should have, at a minimum, known that her children were being injured. The skeletal injuries would have been painful. The reports indicate that Sullivan failed to protect her children from the ongoing abuse.”

The police affidavit lists the children’s injuries found during the examination at Spurwink. They include six healing rib fractures on the 4-year-old, as well as multiple fractures of the arms and a skin injury from being struck by a looped cord.

On the 18-month-old, according to the same report, medical officials found seven rib fractures, as well as healing fractures of bones in the arms, shoulders and legs. The 5-year-old was found to have four healing rib fractures.

The three children have been removed from Sullivan’s custody. When police began investigating the case in November, Sullivan was nine months pregnant with Hudson’s child, according to the court affidavit. It was not immediately clear whether that child has also been removed.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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