Mom charged with child abuse claims medical records prove injuries happened at birth

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) -- A 23-year-old mother of five, who entered an Alford Plea for felony child abuse, claims what she's been convicted of is not true.

Crystal Goode's baby suffered a skull fracture last September.

"The way I'm being judged now, I can only imagine what it would have been in front of a jury," Goode said.

A chance Goode said she didn't want to take, even though she says she didn't hurt her baby.

Goode said the birth of her baby, Brooklyn, was a traumatic experience because she said the baby had to be manually switched in the birth canal.

And she has the medical records to prove Brooklyn suffered cephalhematoma, a hemorrhage of the skull due to birth trauma.

Her baby also wasn't able to have skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth due to these medical conditions.

But Goode said she didn't know of these conditions or what they meant until her defense attorney got the birth records after she was charged.

"If something was wrong with her, I would like to have known because when people are asking me questions, I don't know the answers to them," Goode said.

Goode said she was charged after she took her baby to her two week check-up and shared her concerns about her baby's head swelling.

The doctor ordered a CT scan, which revealed a fractured skull, but the Commonwealth's Attorney's evidence states Goode gave differing stories.

The Commonwealth's Attorney said some of the stories included saying her one-year-old child threw a sippy cup at the baby's head, Goode running Brooklyn's head into a wall accidentally, and also Goode walking Brooklyn's head into a door jam, accidentally.

"When I was talking to the detective, I kept explaining to them for three days that I don't understand what happened, the only thing that could have happened was it came from birth," Goode said.

Goode said after days of questioning, she gave in and told investigators what they wanted to hear.

Goode's five children are in foster care with her mother; her oldest is seven, and Brooklyn is now eight-months-old.

She is able to see the children when Social Services allows.

Her sentencing is set for June and she faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.