Cara LeBlanc Will Return To New Hampshire To Face Abuse Charges
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A New Hampshire woman accused of severely abusing her stepdaughter has agreed to return to the state from Florida to face charges.
Cara LeBlanc, 29, appeared in court Wednesday morning in Florida after police arrested her there on Tuesday. She was charged with beating the 8-year-old child for nine hours last week, repeatedly throwing her down a flight of stairs and tying her up.
She was being held in Florida on a fugitive warrant.
In court on Wednesday, LeBlanc waived extradition, meaning she will not fight attempts to return her to New Hampshire.
Police said the girl was beaten on Thursday, but her father didn’t bring her to a hospital until Saturday night. She was suffering from broken vertebrae, broken ribs and kidney and liver damage.
“The U.S. Marshals office was helping us today in trying to locate her, and the Cape Coral police were staking out the house where they thought she was,” Webster Lt. Philip Mitchell said. “At some point, she stepped outside, and they were able to take her into custody.”
Webster police said they had previously been called to the LeBlanc home on domestic issues, and two years ago the Department of Children, Youth and Families was asked to investigate. At the time, the agency found no signs of abuse.
But police said LeBlanc severely injured her stepdaughter on Thursday.
“The little girl was tied up. She was beaten with a belt,” Mitchell said. “She was thrown down the stairs, pulled back up, thrown down probably seven times. The stepmother at one time stood on her stomach.”
The girl’s father, Daniel Leblanc, a corrections officer, took her to Concord Hospital on Saturday. He was interviewed by police on Monday, and Tuesday, he emerged from a Franklin District courtroom in tears following a custody hearing concerning his other two children.
Investigators declined to elaborate on whether he could face charges, calling it an open case.
The girl remains in critical condition at a Boston hospital. Officials said she is slowly improving.
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