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4 Fast Facts

  • Christine Winfrey was arrested Saturday on a charge of battery.
  • The arrest comes from an incident in January.
  • Winfrey allegedly spanked a two-year-old girl three times after she wet her pants.
  • The mother called police after she found bruises on her daughter.

GOSHEN, Ind. – A babysitter was arrested for allegedly spanking a toddler when the girl wet her pants, according to The Elkhart Truth.

Christine Winfrey, 40, of Middlebury, was arrested Saturday on a warrant; she faces a charge of battery on a person less than 14 years old by a person older than 18, a level 6 felony.

According to documents provided to The Elkhart Truth, the investigation began in January when the mother of a 2-year-old girl called the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department to report a possible battery accident. The mother allegedly found three bruises on her child’s butt after she picked her up from her babysitter’s house.

The girl told her mother that her “butt hurt” because Winfrey spanked her when she “went in her panties,” according to court documents.

The mother allegedly texted Winfrey about the bruises, but Winfrey denied spanking the girl.

A week later investigators spoke with Winfrey, and she confirmed that she spanked the girl three times on her bare butt after she wet herself, court documents say. She also said she previously denied the incident to the girl’s mother because she was afraid.

If convicted, Winfrey could be sentenced to up to two and a half years in prison.