Woman accused in child assault: 'People were making me explain every mark on her'

An emotional Erin Warren testifies at her first-degree assault and child endangerment trial on Monday ta Strafford Superior Court. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - Before taking the stand in her own defense, a Rochester woman accused of child assault and endangerment was roundly admonished by the trial judge for "rolling her eyes" as he explained the risks of her testifying.
Strafford Superior Judge Mark E. Howard sternly questioned whether Erin Warren, of 17 Norway Plains Drive, was aware of the gravity of the situation, and further, was she emotionally grounded enough to be able to handle her time on the witness stand.
Moments later a tearful Warren, 35, took the stand taking questions first from her defense attorney Carl Swenson and later prosecutor Emily Conant Garod.

Frisbie Emergency Department Dr. Mat Malby looks over medical reports during testimony at Erin Warren's assault and child endangerment trial at Strafford Superior Court on Monday.

Warren's trial began last Thursday and is expected to wrap up this Thursday with closing arguments.
She is accused of first-degree assault against her then five-year-old daughter for allegedly causing "serious bodily injury by failing to seek medical attention for a wound on her head, resulting in serious infection and/or scarring."
First on the stand on Monday was Frisbie Memorial Hospital emergency department physician Dr. Mat Malby, who said he was "horrified" when he saw the back of the victim's head, which was "swollen, red and full of puss."
He said Warren told him the wound was the result of the youngster "picking at it," but he said "it was not caused by picking."
"I had never seen this on a child," Malby testified, adding he immediately called in the triage nurse, due to the severity and age of the wound.
Malby also testified the victim had two linear scars on the anterior, or top, of both arms and was very subdued when he spoke to her, even avoiding eye contact.
Warren, under questioning from Swenson, explained that she felt the wound may have begun due to sweat pimples on her head.
She testified when she saw the wound the first time she didn't think too much of it.
"I told her to leave it alone, and I put hydrogen peroxide on it," she testified.
Doctors generally advise against doing this as it can actually harm tissue and delay healing, but Warren said that was how her parents had treated her and she thought it was the correct treatment.
She said her daughter never complained about it, but said was concerned when she examined the wound area a week or so later.
Several days after that, a friend of hers called to say she was going to Barrington Urgent Care for an appointment and would be happy to take Warren and her daughter to get it checked out.
When medical personnel examined the victim, they told Warren to get her to Frisbie fast.
Once at Frisbie's emergency department, Warren, often sobbing on the stand, said she was overwhelmed with all the scrutiny she was getting about the various wounds on her daughter.
"People were making me explain every mark on her body," she said.
Later she testified she called her ex-boyfriend to come to the hospital for moral support, but his arrest by police soon after he arrived only added to her anxiety.
She explained to Swenson that the marks on her daughter's arms were from wearing floaties at a pool party, that a cut on her lip was from her own biting it, that a scratch on her cheek was from her sister pulling her glasses off and that a bruise on her foot was from the victim wearing sandals that were too small.
Garod began her cross-examination of Warren by asking about her involvement with DCYF.
"DCYF has been in my life my whole life, first as a child, then as a mother with my own kids," she sobbed, adding that she had worked hard to get custody of the victim in 2017.
Under questioning from Garod, Warren admitted that she told her daughter that she had to start being in charge of washing her own hair and keeping it clean, which may have led to the pimples.
Garod also asked her if she was sure the marks on her arms were caused by floaties.
"They could have been," Warren said.
Garod then produced a police report filed soon after police began an investigation that quoted her as saying, "Floaties caused the marks."
"I said 'it could have been,'" retorted Warren.
"That's not what the recorded interview says," replied Garod.
The day ended with Judge Howard denying two defense motions to dismiss both charges.
Warren, who has been out on bail, faces up to 31 years in prison if convicted on both charges.