Suspecting abuse, two say they called state

A nurse and a former child care owner say they made at least five complaints total to Idaho Health and Welfare Services with concerns about an abused 3-year-old St. Maries girl who was recovering Friday after multiple in a Spokane hospital.

“I reported to CPS, in detail, three times, and they’ve done nothing,” said Solitaire Lounsbury, a referral nurse at Fairchild Air Force Base who lives in St. Maries and got to know Kyra Wine and her 6-year-old sister, Amanda Wine, because they occasionally attended the same child care center her children attend.

The operator of that child care, Norma Mabbutt, said she also tried to alert social workers.

State officials refused Friday to say whether they had received any calls about the girls’ safety. “All investigations are confidential,” said Emily Simnit, an Idaho Health and Welfare Services spokeswoman.

Kyra remained hospitalized Friday with severe injuries that authorities say were caused by abuse. Her condition improved from critical to serious, hospital officials said.

Her sister was in their father’s custody Friday.

The girls’ mother, 26-year-old Christina Haynes, and her boyfriend, 29-year-old Charles William Smith, remain in Benewah County Jail on charges of felony injury of a child.

Authorities arrested the couple after finding Kyra with dead flesh on her hands and feet and bruising all over her body. Most of Kyra’s hair had been ripped from her scalp.

Lounsbury’s children and the Wine girls received care from the same woman, 42-year-old Mabbutt, who said Friday she also placed calls to Health and Welfare Services.

“I called anonymously when I called, but after all this happened, I thought, you know what, I’m opening my mouth,” Mabbutt said.

“Maybe if they (welfare services) would have looked into it, things would have been different.”

The women say they reported problems that they considered neglect: The girls were missing shoes in the winter and didn’t seem well-fed. Cleanliness was another issue, they said.

Mabbutt, who occasionally cared for the girls over 18 months until last fall, said she would braid the girls’ hair, and they’d return to her house days later with the same braids, without having been bathed.

One time, when Kyra lost a tooth, Haynes “said she fell, and maybe she did,” Mabbutt said.

“But she didn’t take her to the dentist for three or four days.”

Amanda attends Harrison Elementary School and rode the same bus as Mabbutt’s 15-year-old daughter.

“She (Mabbutt’s daughter) told the principal and the bus driver that she was worried about the little girl,” said Mabbutt.

“She noticed her face was swollen and just not looking right. When she would ask the little girl questions, Amanda’s answers seemed rehearsed and hesitant.”

Simnit said that when residents call the state to report possible abuse, they must offer details about what happened and should call immediately about the suspected abuse occurs.

When asked what type of specifics the agency would need, she said: “I don’t have a manual to quantify what level of specific detail.”

Mabbutt said she was cautious about calling state officials, but based on her longtime work with children, she decided she had to.

“I check things out before I take such a big step,” she said.

“Your family, it’s everything. Before I would send someone in to check on them, I needed to feel comfortable. I feel like something should have been done a long time ago.”