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MAGNA — A Magna woman faces felony criminal charges after police say she hit and yelled at her 11-year-old stepson and forced him to eat hot sauce as punishment.
Anna Marie Stinson, 60, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with two counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began Jan. 11 when Unified police, while searching for a missing 11-year-old boy, found the boy behind a dumpster "where he had slept all night in freezing weather without a coat," according to charging documents.
The boy told police he ran away and "cried and pleaded" with officers "not to take him home because he was scared and tired of being abused," the charges state. He claimed the abuse had been ongoing since August of 2019.
Police who found the boy noted "handprint bruising" on one of his arms "consistent with being grabbed firmly," according to the charges. The boy said he typically was hit for allegedly not doing chores correctly, and if he tried to run off, he said Stinson "hits me even harder."
In addition, the boy "stated that if does not eat food in a 'timely manner' Stinson makes him eat hot sauce off of a spoon as punishment. (The boy) stated that if he throws it up, Stinson makes him" eat it, according to the charges.
When interviewed, police say Stinson admitted to getting "frustrated and loud" and going off the "handle," but claimed she did not mean the bad things she said. She also admitted to putting habanero sauce on his food if the boy did not finish it in a certain time, the charges state, but she denied hitting the boy.
