Aug 7, 2006 6:52 pm US/Eastern
Mother Of Beaten Child Has Visits Postponed
SPRINGFIELD (CBS4) ―
The biological mother of a girl beaten into a coma is no longer allowed to visit her.
Haleigh Poutre, 12, was allegedly beaten by her aunt and uncle after the young girl's mother, Allison Avrett, gave up her parental rights in 2001.
Just before Avrett's last visit to the rehabilitation facility last Monday, D.S.S. called and told her not to come. Avrett says she was not given a reason why.
D.S.S. maintains her visits have been postponed indefinitely, not cancelled.
Poutre's aunt, Avrett's sister, has since died. Jason Strickland, Avrett's brother-in-law, faces assault and battery charges.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
