Joplin mother draws 25-year sentence for abuse of 3-year-old daughter
Sep. 2—A judge dealt young Joplin mother Celia Lara-Licon the maximum sentence she could be assessed under her plea deal: 25 years in prison for assaulting, abusing and neglecting her 3-year-old daughter in a manner that a pediatrician characterized as "child torture."
Judge Gayle Crane sentenced Lara-Licon, 25, at a hearing Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court to concurrent terms of 25 years for assault of the girl and 15 years for the sustained abuse the child suffered.
On March 4, 2020, the defendant brought her daughter to Mercy Hospital Joplin with a complaint that she'd been vomiting. Hospital staff's suspicions were raised almost immediately when they spotted a large bruise across the girl's forehead.
The toddler appeared lethargic, was suffering from severe dehydration and kidney failure, and weighed just 25 pounds. She had to be put on dialysis right away and flown by medical helicopter to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
X-rays taken in Joplin detected healed fractures throughout her body, and emergency room staff had noted that the girl was nonverbal and lacking the strength to hold a cup.
Further medical examination in Kansas City discovered laceration of the girl's pancreas from suspected blunt force trauma. There were nine fractures total detected on both arms, both legs, two ribs and a clavicle, along with bruising to her face, ear and buttocks, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Varying stages of healing of both the broken bones and the bruises were indicative of chronic violence, according to the affidavit.
State child abuse investigators met with the defendant and the fathers of her children the day she brought the girl to the hospital, and she told them that she was responsible for her daughter's abuse over the preceding 18 months.
According to the affidavit, she told investigators that she would get frustrated with the girl and hit her and jerk her about by her arms.
A pediatrics specialist in Kansas City ascribed the girl's nonverbal demeanor to extreme neglect, possibly involving isolation.
