DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa mother of a severely abused toddler was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.
Taylor Rae Moss, 25, of Davenport, was sentenced to 10 years for neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, and five years each for two charges of child endangerment and willful injury, KWQC reported. The charges will be served concurrently, the television station reported.
Moss pleaded guilty to all three charges in June 2021.
Moss was arrested in December 2020 after a five-month investigation that began when Moss’ 2-year-old son was hospitalized for a perforated bowel and rib fractures of varying ages, KLJB reported.
The boy remained in the hospital for a month, the television station reported.
Moss originally told police she was bathing the boy in July and believed he had inhaled some water, KWQC reported. She said the boy began vomiting and then became motionless.
Moss added that she believed the boy was dying and, rather than call 911, she placed him in an ice bath to try and revived him, the television station reported.
Moss finally called 911 at the direction of the mother of her boyfriend, Justin Michael Perkins, 38. Perkins was arrested in November 2020 on one count of child endangerment-multiple acts, KWQC reported.
Police said the child may have suffered multiple instances of abuse.
Moss admitted she and her boyfriend had been the only caretakers for the child since March 2020, KLJB reported.
“I first off would like to thank you and the rest of the court for taking the time to hear me and allow me to take responsibility for my actions publicly,” Moss said Friday during her online sentencing hearing. “I will not stand here and tell you this road has been an easy one. I have made many mistakes in my life, but this was the biggest one of all. (My son) and the other children deserve a better version of me than what I was giving them, or myself.”
“Your honor, I want you to know I will accept any outcome you give me.”
Judge Stuart Werling referred to the “horror of the inactions” of Moss, “who allowed her boyfriend to repeatedly and viciously beat and abuse a small, helpless and defenseless child,” KLJB reported.
“The monumental abuse that was visited upon this child cannot be properly addressed by probation or a deferred judgment,” Werling said. “I believe justice requires, and in this case cries out for, incarceration.
“The most favorable thing the court can say is she was not the perpetrator of the violence.”
Moss and Perkins ended their relationship in September 2020, her attorney, Rebecca Ruggero, told the court.