Deputies: Woman Hit Girl for Wearing Wrong Outfit

— A Springdale woman faces criminal charges after deputies said she slapped and scratched her 8-year-old stepdaughter for refusing to wear a blue shirt.

Melissa Ann Wilson, 34, of 17952 Pine Ridge Road was arrested Monday in connection with felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.

Washington County deputies went to Sonora Elementary School on Friday for a report of a child being hit by her stepmother, according to an arrest report. The child disclosed the incident to a school counselor, who then contacted the Department of Human Services.

According to the report, Wilson told the girl to wear a specific blue shirt instead of the outfit the child chose. The girl put the blue shirt on the floor and told Wilson she couldn’t find it, according to the report.

When Wilson found the shirt on the floor, she hit the girl on the side of her face and grabbed her by the arm, leaving fingernail cuts in her skin and slapped her, causing her head to hit the door frame, according to the report.

The girl had a large bump on the side of her head, according to the report, and her parents refused to take her to the hospital. Deputies said her father yelled at her to stop crying.

Wilson was arrested and taken to the Washington County Detention Center, where she was being held Tuesday without bond.

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