Foster mother placed in custody

A Coeur d’Alene foster mother is in jail and her children are in state custody after doctors at Kootenai Medical Center on Friday evening noticed injuries to a 6-year-old boy that they said didn’t match the explanation given.

Joyce D. Hibshman, 36, was arrested Friday evening for felony injury to a child and remained in the Kootenai County Jail on Saturday.

She and her husband brought their 6-year-old foster son to the hospital Friday about 5 p.m. with a head injury and large bruises on his body and said he had fallen down, according to a news release from the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

The boy was transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane and is expected to recover from his injuries. A 12-year-old girl – Hibshman’s biological daughter – and three other foster children living with the woman at 1410 E. McFarland Ave. were taken into custody by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, according to the police.

Her arraignment is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

– Meghann M. Cuniff

Priest River

Man hurt in 4-wheeler crash

A 36-year-old Priest River man was hospitalized after he lost control of his 4-wheeler Saturday, and it rolled on top of him.

Albert H. Nichols was eastbound on Skunk Cabbage Road when the 4-wheeler he was driving slid sideways, sending him onto Highway 57 with the vehicle on top of him, according to the Idaho State Police.

Nichols was wearing a seat belt but was not wearing a helmet, according to police. He was first taken to Bonner General Hospital, but a hospital official said he has since been transferred to Kootenai Medical Center in critical condition.

– Meghann M. Cuniff

POCATELLO

Ex-counselor charged again

A former Idaho and Utah behavioral counselor who pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing child pornography has also been charged with lewd conduct with a 6-year-old boy.

Brian Wilson, 35, a former employee of the Utah Department of Health and Welfare, was arrested Thursday in Salt Lake City, where he’d relocated from Pocatello since being charged with possession of child porn in March.

He was charged with lewd conduct Friday.

Police say the alleged abuse occurred on two occasions during sessions at The Children’s Center, a local counseling center for kids with behavioral problems.

“We were horrified to discover a trained professional, who knew exactly what effects this would inflict on a child, did it anyway,” said the victim’s mother, whose name wasn’t released.

Wilson initially caught the attention of authorities when Pocatello police found him in his car in March looking at nude images of children on his laptop computer.

– Associated Press