Sheriff: Palmetto mother of man facing child abuse charges she failed to report abuse

MANATEE -- The mother of a man charged with breaking his girlfriend's daughter's leg on two separate occasions and abusing his son, has been charged with failing to report any of the abuse, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Tanya Sullivan, a certified nursing assistant at Manatee Memorial Hospital, was arrested Wednesday and charged with failing to report child abuse. She was released from the Manatee County jail the same day on a $1,500 bond.

Sullivan's son, Roger Young, was arrested on Jan. 8 after admitting to investigators with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Child Protective Investigative Division that he may have set his girlfriend's 19-month-old daughter on the ground too hard, according to the sheriff's office. Young had taken the girl to Manatee Memorial Hospital, where doctors found she had a broken leg.

During the course of the investigation, investigators learned the girl had been brought to the same hospital by Young two months prior and hat the girl had a healing tibia fracture in the same leg where a femur fracture had been found. He also admitted to being at fault for that injury, according to the sheriff's office.

On Jan. 11, investigators spoke with Sullivan who told them she had questioned the initial leg injury because she knew there had to be more to the story her son was telling her, according to arrest reports. She said Young had told her that the girl had fallen on V-Tech toy laptop. She said she found the toy on the lanai in the home they shared, and that her son never cleans or moves their toys so the story didn't "add-up.".

Sullivan had also told investigators that a week prior to her son being arrested, she had noticed belt marks on one of her grandson's legs. When questioned, the boy told her that Young had hit him with a belt.

She had seen Young be too rough with the boys, investigators noted in the reports. She also reportedly told investigators that she had seen her son be too rough with the girl, and had intervened because she was afraid Young would hurt the child.

On Jan. 11, the girl's mother, Cherie Matthews, was also questioned by investigators and she said was not present during an incident in which Sullivan told investigators Young had dragged one of his sons by the hair from the house to car, when the boy refused to leave. Sullivan had called her about it though, Matthews told investigators, according to the report.

Matthews was convicted of child neglect in 2014 after taking a plea deal in the 2012 death of her 6-month-old daughter Izabella who died after Matthews fell asleep while high on drugs and the girl rolled off a bed, face down in a laundry basket full of clothes.

"The two of them (Tanya and Cherie) discussed calling child protective services or law enforcement but decided to try to help Roger instead and give him another chance," an investigator wrote in the report.

None of the incidents disclosed to investigators had ever been reported to law enforcement or CPID.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter@JDeLeon1012.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Sheriff: Palmetto mother of man facing child abuse charges she failed to report abuse ."