Red Lake mother charged with torture and abuse of son who was subject of recent Amber Alert

A Red Lake, Minn., mother is charged with child torture, abuse and neglect in connection with a recent statewide Amber Alert issued for the abduction of her 3-year-old son.

Jennifer Stately, 35, is in custody and faces multiple felony charges including third-degree assault. Charges say her toddler was covered in open sores and hadn’t been bathed in days when Todd County sheriff’s deputies pulled Stately over about an hour after the Amber Alert was issued Friday night.

“It would be a very slow process for his healing,” hospital staff said of the child, according to charges filed Monday in Todd County. Staff also concluded that the wounds were not a skin condition and could be from a burn caused by heat or chemicals.

A double-fatal house fire was also reported Friday in Red Lake. Little to no details have been released except for the two fatalities and that there’s no ongoing threat to the public.

The Minneapolis FBI bureau is leading that investigation and also declined to provide further information on the time and location of the fire. Officials have yet to identify the deceased.

Officials would not say if the fatal house fire and Amber Alert are connected.

Records show that Stately is the mother of three young children: the toddler and two boys, ages 5 and 6.

Stately’s home on Circle Pines Road is in Red Lake’s Little Rock District, according to Red Lake Nation legal counsel Joe Plumer. That district is in the area of the house fire.

Red Lake fire and police departments are deferring all questions to FBI. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued the Amber Alert, but the agency has no involvement with the FBI’s ongoing investigation.

The Todd County Attorney’s Office also declined to comment beyond the criminal charges and wouldn’t say if further charges were pending against Stately.

According to the charges, deputies alerted law enforcement that the vehicle subject to the Amber Alert was located on Hwy. 71 around 9:24 p.m. Stately was in the vehicle and the toddler was secured in a child seat in the backseat. Deputies immediately observed scabs covering 95% of the toddler’s face and entire body.

“[He] had a very strong smell of body odor, as if he had not been washed or changed in a few days. His cheeks were red and the sores appeared to be bleeding. His blue t-shirt was filthy with what appeared to be skin cells and crumb-like material. The car seat also appeared dirty and full of the same type of materials. The boy had no winter coat, and he was wearing moccasins that were multiple sizes too big with no socks. His feet were full of scabs that appeared to be a mix of old and new wounds. [He] did not seem to want to stand on his feet due to pain. When he walked, it was in an irregular manner,” charges state.

A full-body examination at Long Prairie Hospital revealed open sores and lesions; his legs, face and feet were the worst. He was scratching vigorously at his feet and eventually started crying that he was itchy. He was given medication to help and also prescribed steroids. Staff said he would need Vaseline at all times on his body to recover.

The toddler was anemic, low on potassium and thirsty. He couldn’t eat a cheese stick because his teeth were rotten. He ate two cups of pudding and could only take small bites of ice cream because of the sensitivity in his mouth, which he said hurt.

Stately was arrested upon suspicion of child neglect and endangerment, malicious punishment, torture, and assault.

The investigation is ongoing.