Charges Filed Against Woman Accused Of Beating 3-Year-old Girl

A felony charge of child abuse has been filed against a Pottawatomie County woman accused of injuring her stepdaughter.

The probable cause affidavit said Lisa Botone is accused of hurting Charlotte Kauley so badly, the child nearly died. The affidavit said Charlotte's dad rushed the 3-year-old girl to the emergency room on March 27 after he got home from work and found her unresponsive.

Doctors said Charlotte had a fractured skull, subdural hemorrhage, as well as bruising, knots and abrasions on her body.

News 9 first introduced Charlotte when she was learning how to walk again at the Children's Center in Bethany. Her injuries led to paralysis on the left side of her body.

Absentee Shawnee Tribe Police said Botone reported a burglary the day Charlotte was injured at the family's Tecumseh home. The affidavit said Botone reported her credit cards were stolen and used fraudulently.

4/10/2014 Related Story: Police Investigating After Girl, 3, Severely Abused In Pottawatomie County

Police said they found surveillance video that showed Botone was the one using her own credit cards during the two transactions. Investigators also said they found other surveillance video from Botone's neighborhood that showed the family's house and no one was around the home the night of the reported break-in.

Police said Botone still does not have an explanation for Charlotte's injuries and told them "it is all blurry." Charlotte is now in Virginia with her mother, Beth Marsh, and nearly done with physical therapy.

"She's pretty much back to 100%. I mean, she doesn't need it anymore at all," said Marsh.

Marsh said she is glad to hear about Botone's arrest warrant.

"I feel like it's been so long already. I mean, I feel like it should have happened right away. It seemed like a clear-cut case that we all knew what happened," Marsh explained.

Investigators said through their interviews, they learned that Botone lied about the amount of prescription narcotics she was getting. They said in the affidavit she visited multiple doctors and multiple pharmacies throughout the state to get hundreds of prescription narcotics.

Investigators said in court documents the day of Botone's reported "blackout" with Charlotte, Botone was positive for opiates. Charlotte's father, Mitchell Kauley, said he wants justice for his daughter and the person responsible to be held accountable.

Botone has not yet been booked into the Pottawatomie County Jail.