05:35 PM CST on Thursday, February 10, 2005

Associated Press

HOUSTON -- A young mother charged with injuring her 6-month-old daughter who police say was sexually abused and suffered numerous broken bones didn't hurt the infant, her defense attorney said Thursday.

KHOU-TV

Donna Marie Norman, 19, appeared in court Monday on charges of injuring her 6-month-old girl.

"She did not cause the injuries to the child and she did not even have knowledge that the actions of her boyfriend were as serious as they were," defense attorney Jerald Graber said of his client, Donna Marie Norman.

Norman, 19, and her boyfriend, Ivan Castaneda, 22, are both charged with injury to a child. They remained jailed Thursday without bond.

State District Judge Brock Thomas' court on Thursday had no record of an attorney for Castaneda, who asked for more time to find a lawyer.

Graber described the baby's mother as unsophisticated "as all 19-year-olds normally are" and "a calm, caring person" who did the right thing when she realized her baby needed medical attention.

"I've only known her since Monday, but I haven't seen any signs from her to indicate that she is responsible for any of these injuries," he said. "Donna is the one who initiated the child getting emergency care. But for Donna, it would have been worse for the child."

The baby remained in critical condition Thursday at Texas Children's hospital, where she began to show some signs of improvement in recent days.

Police were called to hospital last week after the infant was transferred there from another hospital where Norman brought the infant complaining of congestion.

When doctors examined the girl, they found severe internal and external injuries.

Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin said the baby had been sexually abused, had two fractured legs, a fractured arm, a fractured skull, a fractured vertebrae and a healing rib fracture.

The infant's tongue was sliced down the middle, and police Sgt. Randall Upton said every vital organ in her body was damaged.

Prosecutors told a judge this week that the infant had vaginal and anal tears from being sexually assaulted.

"We have evidence that she knew about it," Upton said, referring to Norman without giving specific details. "She can try and say that she didn't know about it all day long."

Olguin said it would have been difficult for anyone who dressed or bathed the infant or her 15-month-old sister, who also had a fractured skull and healing rib fracture, not to know the children were in pain.

"You would wonder how aware she was then of her children or how much contact she had with her children," Olguin said. "Anyone would have known how much pain they were in."

Graber said his client gave birth to the two girls nine months apart from one another and was herself a victim of abuse.

"They have reached conclusions about her guilt and her responsibility when they don't know the whole story," Graber said of police. "They should not have cuffed her and put her in jail."

Norman and Castaneda met in June 2002 through a friend and a few months later Norman was pregnant with the couple's first child, Graber said. Norman gave birth to her first daughter in October 2003 and second in July 2004, according to CPS records.

When the couple's first baby was 32 days old, Castaneda was accused of throwing and striking the infant. Prosecutors, however, eventually dropped the charge because they didn't believe they had enough evidence.

Olguin said Norman at first claimed not to know how the child was injured and later took the blame upon herself, but none of the stories she gave were consistent with how the newborn could have suffered a fractured thigh bone and head injury.

During an interview with CPS investigators, Olguin said Norman denied growing up in a violent household or ever experiencing domestic violence as an adult.

She said Norman, unlike Castaneda, completed therapy and parenting classes. The older child was returned home in October 2004 after Norman said she was leaving Castaneda and would be moving in with her mother.

Olguin said Norman did leave Castaneda for a few days but returned.