Taylor Melody Hightower (PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater woman has been charged with neglecting and enabling abuse of her 6-year-old son whose genitals were allegedly injured with a safety pin or other sharp instrument by her boyfriend while he was living in her home.
Taylor Melody Hightower, 26, who was arrested on Nov. 15, was released from the Payne County Jail on Dec. 2 on $10,000 bail pending a Feb. 3 court appearance on both counts, each of which carries a possible life prison term.
Her boyfriend, Jesse Thomas Edens Jr., 25, who was arrested on Oct. 31, has been jailed on $250,000 bail pending his court appearance on Dec. 10 at which he can seek a preliminary hearing on his charges of child abuse and neglect, each of which carries a possible life prison term.
Both have been ordered to have no contact with the child, who was removed from the home on Oct. 30 and taken to OU Children’s Hospital by DHS for treatment, according to an affidavit by Stillwater Police Officer Kurt Merrill.
On Oct. 30 Stillwater police and the state Department of Human Services Child Welfare had been notified by staff at the boy’s grade school that he was complaining of an injury to his private parts, an affidavit said. The boy was taken to the Saville Center for Child Advocacy for a forensic interview and medical examination, the affidavit said.
“During the forensic interview, (the boy) disclosed that he had injured his private parts. (The boy) was told that a dog had torn his private parts while he was sleeping,” the affidavit alleged.
The police officer, who interviewed the couple, alleged in his affidavit, “Edens had been home when (the boy) had his scrotum torn. Both Hightower and Edens stated that (the boy) had been kept home from school on Friday, Oct. 25, because (the boy) had eaten a THC edible in the early morning of that day and was under the influence of THC that morning.
“While sleeping on that morning, Edens claims that a dog ran across (the boy) and tore his scrotum. Over the next few days, (the boy) was not taken to see a medical professional. Edens under the supervision of Hightower would bandage (the boy’s) scrotum.
“They continued to bandage and clean the lacerated scrotum until Oct. 30 when (the boy) was removed from the home and taken to OU Children’s Hospital by DHS for treatment.
“Edens and Hightower were afraid that (the boy) would be removed from them if they sought medical treatment, and it was learned that (the boy) had ingested THC.
“At no time did Hightower seek medical treatment,” for her child, the affidavit alleged.
