Augusta woman pleads guilty to endangering infant daughter

AUGUSTA — A city woman pleaded guilty Friday to child endangerment involving her infant daughter.

Sandra Watson Young, 32, of Augusta was sentenced to 364 days in jail, all suspended and one year of probation.

In exchange for the plea, the state dropped a second charge of assault.

The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Fernand LaRochelle, said originally investigators were told the child, then 2 months old, had fractured ribs.

Later, they learned that there were no broken ribs, but that the child was at risk of malnutrition during the first eight weeks of her life, from Sept. 8 to Nov. 7, 2011, in Augusta.

“It was fairly significant, but it didn’t amount to assault,” LaRochelle said.

Justice Michaela Murphy said she understood circumstances were different from what police and the district attorney’s office first were told.

The child was taken into state custody and is in a foster home. The mother has visitation privileges under supervision by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Another woman, Lindsay Dangler, 29, of Waterville and Clinton, was sentenced Friday during a separate hearing in Kennebec County Superior Court.

She was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all but 45 days suspended, and two years’ probation after being convicted of domestic-violence assault and violating condition of release. The offenses occurred June 28 in Waterville.

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