St. James babysitter accused of slapping, spanking child

A woman is accused of slapping and spanking a child she was babysitting.

Candi Lynn Petersen, 41, of St. James, was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor 5th-degree assault in Watonwan County Court.

A criminal complaint says the child’s mother reported her son had been slapped and spanked by Petersen, who was babysitting the boy.

The child told investigators he had hidden food in the couch and his younger sister told Petersen what he had done.  The boy said Petersen yelled at him, spanked him on his buttocks with an open hand, then slapped his face when he began to cry.  The boy said the spanking “hurt bad.”

The child’s mother discovered her children had been returned home by Petersen when she went to pick them up.

Petersen has been summoned to appear in Watonwan County Court.

 

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