LAWRENCE CO.—A Lawrenceville woman has been charged with causing great harm to a child.
According to information filed in the case, Amy M. Norton, 41, of 1312 Maple St., Lawrenceville, on or about February 26 at the Maple Street address, committed the offense of Aggravated Battery when she allegedly caused great bodily harm to the child when she shook the child, identified in court records by initials only and as being under the age of 13 years.
While the online description of the charges indicates the damage done to the child caused permanent disability, that’s just a technicality per the charge in order to cover the type of injury alleged to have been sustained.
Sources close to the families of those involved indicate that Amy Norton is the wife of Lawrenceville Language Arts teacher Dann Norton; the couple has a one-year-old son, and Amy Norton was watching the other baby (a five-month-old girl; the one in question) for another family, the mother of which is also a teacher locally. Norton was babysitting for the little girl twice a week, as her regular babysitter didn’t have room for her.
The allegation was that Norton shook the infant girl at some point, enough to seriously injure her, and an ambulance was called. Law enforcement became involved, along with DCFS, and a charge was filed March 14 after the investigation was complete.
The involvement of DCFS has created a problem for the Norton family, as now, Amy Norton was not allowed to be alone with her young son, and her husband has reportedly not been able to return to work because of it.
Latest reports indicate that the infant girl was showing considerable improvement after having been taken to a children’s hospital in St. Louis following the late-February incident.
Norton is currently free on a $3,000 cash bond. She was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the matter April 30 in front of judge Mark Shaner, as resident judge Robert Hopkins had to recuse himself on a conflict stemming from a relationship of some sort with Dann Norton.