West Deer woman accused of beating, sexually assaulting 7-year-old girl faces multiple felony charges
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A West Deer woman faces multiple felony charges after a girl told authorities she was beaten and sexually assaulted by the woman multiple times.
Kerren Amanda Morra, 28, of Hampshire Lane was charged with two counts of aggravated indecent assault and counts of unlawful contact with a minor and endangering the welfare of children, which are all felonies.
She also was charged with three counts of simple assault.
Morra was released from custody on a $2 million unsecured bond and faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan on Aug. 3.
Police began investigating Morra on June 15 after receiving a state ChildLine report in which she was accused of beating the girl with a hairbrush, according to a criminal complaint.
During a July 5 forensic interview at UPMC Children’s Hospital that was conducted by a child advocacy specialist, the girl said she was beaten so hard on her bare buttocks that the brush broke, so the woman continued the beating with a belt, the complaint said.
The girl told investigators that scars she had on her hands were caused when she tried to block the blows from the hairbrush, which caused wounds that bled, according to Morra’s arrest papers.
The girl also told investigators that on other occasions the woman beat her with her hands, the complaint said.
The child’s mother notified authorities after observing bruising indicating that her daughter had been beaten and sexually assaulted while in Morra’s care, the complaint said.
The child was examined at a pediatric care center in Butler, according to the complaint.
The girl’s mother provided police with photographs she took showing her daughter’s injuries, police said.
During the forensic interview, the girl also described several ways in which she was inappropriately touched by Morra, the complaint said.