Bird Rock resident Lainie Carswell understands how some people may find it hard to believe what happened to her 7-month-old daughter Jori.
"There are days when I am so angry that this happened and that she has done this to my child, and she has done this to other children," Carswell said.
She said it happened last November at a community event and it involved La Jolla Realtor Lisa Hench.
Carswell said Hench's three kids went to the same school as her older children.
Even though Carswell said she didn't know Hench very well, she didn't have a problem when she said Hench wanted to hold her daughter Jori.
"I was standing right there," Carswell said.
Moments after handing over Jori, she said her daughter started to scream.
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"Just like a wail with a screech, just very loud, I couldn't console her," Carswell said. "I just finally got to a point where I took Jori and I had to leave."
When Carswell got home and took off Jori's clothing, she was stunned.
"There were pinches, bruises, bloodied scratches, there had been skin torn off from a toe," she said.
Carswell said she didn't understand how it could have happened, until she spoke with her friend who's 18-month-old son, Charlie, suffered scratches around his ears, after allegedly being held by Hench that same day.
The Carswells say other parents have also come forward claiming their children were also scratched by Hench.
"We don't want anyone to go through the pain that we've had to go through," said Gene Carswell.
Hench was in a San Diego courtroom for a status hearing on Thursday. Her next hearing has been set for December 2. She faces multiple felony child abuse charges. Her attorney declined to comment.
