Yakima woman who failed to get son dental care sentenced to jail

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A Yakima woman was sentenced to nine months in jail Monday for failing to seek timely dental care for her developmentally disabled son.

Kathren Ann Carter's sentence fell in the middle of the standard range for second-degree criminal mistreatment. Jurors convicted her last month in Yakima County Superior Court.

She will serve three months of the sentence in custody, then go on electronic home monitoring for the rest of the term.

Prosecutors alleged that Carter's 10-year-old adopted son went without urgent medical care for a year. In charging documents, a doctor had compared the pain of the dental abscesses in Carter's son to "being shot with a nail gun."

Deputy prosecutor Quinn Rosborough told Judge Michael McCarthy that the boy's disability prevented him from explaining his pain or seeking other help.

The boy was taken from Carter in 2008, the same year the case was filed, and turned over to foster parents. In a separate proceeding, the state is seeking to terminate Carter's parental rights.

Carter told the judge that she never meant to harm the boy.

Her defense attorney, Dennis Morgan of Ritzville, Wash., said there had never been any problem with the boy's care until after Carter's husband died and other issues came up in her life.

Carter's defense attorney contended she was unaware of the extent of the problem and that she lacked money for expenses, such as transporting the child to appointments. Financial hardship is a permitted defense for the crime under state law.

However, the boy's foster mother pointed out that Carter had access to medical coupons and other assistance for her son.

Rosborough asked for the maximum 12-month sentence due to the severity of the crime; Morgan suggested Carter be treated as a first-time offender, which could have allowed her to be sentenced only to probation for up to two years.

McCarthy said he was concerned that state budget cuts might mean that Carter would not qualify for supervision from the state Department of Corrections.