Two Whatcom women arrested in child abuse case
Two Maple Falls women were arrested this week in connection with child abuse allegations, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office said.
Elesea Arielle Perez, 31 and Diana Esmeralda Sanchez Garcia, 26, were being held without bail Wednesday, Nov. 9, after their arrests on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
“Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office detectives received information relating to an ongoing investigation regarding potential child abuse,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
They were booked on suspicion of second-degree assault of a child in the same case, according to jail booking records.
Both arrests show a domestic violence enhancement.
Because the investigation is ongoing, no further details were released, Slater said.
According to Washington state law, second-degree assault of a child is a class B felony that involves a victim younger than 13 who suffered “bodily harm that is greater than transient physical pain or minor temporary marks, and the person has previously engaged in a pattern or practice either of assaulting the child which has resulted in bodily harm that is greater than transient pain or minor temporary marks, or causing the child physical pain or agony that is equivalent to that produced by torture.”
