Mother and her Boyfriend Sentenced in Abuse of 2 and 3 year old Children in Arkansas
June 30, 2018
The Case of unidentified female victim, 3 & unidentified male victim, 2
Suspects Anthony Mosley, Sarah Keeling
Gosnell, AR – The Gosnell Police Department is investigating a severe case of child abuse after images surfaced online showing an injured child.
Police confirmed that a mother and her boyfriend were both arrested in connection with the case, which involved injuries to a 3-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother.
In a statement posted to Facebook Tuesday, officials said a person of interest was in custody. Local news outlets later confirmed that Anthony Mosley and the children’s mother, Sarah Keeling, were the two arrested.
Mosley is charged with first-degree domestic violence battery. Keeling is charged with permitting the abuse of a minor. Police say Mosley abused both children.
The investigation began after officers received a call reporting the alleged abuse. That’s when they learned of the pictures circulating online showing an injured child. The images are so disturbing that authorities have asked that they not be shared on social media.
Clinton Rushing Jr. said he was horrified when he saw his three-year-old daughter’s injuries Monday night. Blood vessels in her eyes were broken, her mouth was surrounded by bloody bruises, and lacerations covered her neck.
“Honestly, I’m surprised she’s alive, to be real. Like, I don’t see how my baby could pull through that,” Rushing said.
Keeling and Mosley were arrested Tuesday after Rushing said he received a tip on Facebook that his daughter had been abused and drove to Gosnell from his home in Missouri.
Rushing said Keeling insisted on meeting him at a gas station and wouldn’t tell him where in the trailer park on South Air Base Highway she and his daughter were living. He also said he had difficulty seeing the full extent of his daughter’s injuries at first.
“It was dark when we got there, and their mother was, the whole time, covering them up,” Rushing said.
Rushing said Keeling never explained how his daughter got the bruises. Once he saw them, he said, he immediately took her to a hospital in Missouri. He also noticed his two-year-old son had injuries to the boy’s eyes and lips.
He later learned that a picture of his badly beaten daughter had begun circulating online, showing her held by an unidentified hand. The image is so disturbing that local news stations opted not to publish it.
“I thought he was holding her by the hair, but that’s just him holding the head. That’s not Mr. Mosley holding that child like that,” said Det. Andrew Wyles with the Gosnell Police Department.
Police couldn’t say who took the picture, but neighbors at the trailer park said conditions at Keeling’s home were less than satisfactory even before evidence of abuse surfaced.
“When I seen the house, it was filthy, really filthy. It’s not suitable for no kid or dog,” said Tonya Green, who identified herself as Mosley’s second cousin.
The road ahead? Weeks in the hospital, as doctors attempt a skin-grafting procedure, along with the decades of trauma and distrust that may also await the little girl.
“That’s gonna’ haunt her every day, and I’m gonna’ have to work with her every day just to prove to her that not everybody’s like that,” Rushing said.
Mosley was sentenced to 120 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction on a second-degree domestic battery charge, while Keeling was sentenced to 72 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction on a permitting-abuse charge. Both Mosley and Keeling received credit for 343 days already served in jail.
