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Inset: Amber L. Raymond (Ramsey County Adult Detention Center). Background: The area in Minnesota where Raymond allegedly had her boyfriend beat her daughter (Google Maps).
A troubling incident has surfaced in Minnesota, where a 31-year-old mother is accused of facilitating the brutal beating of her own 10-year-old daughter. The allegations claim that she allowed her boyfriend to repeatedly strike the child while he donned lightly padded boxing gloves.
The mother, identified as Amber Lynn Raymond, now faces serious charges including child endangerment, child neglect, and malicious punishment of a child. The charges were officially documented following her arrest.
Details of the case emerged from a probable cause affidavit. On February 1, officers from the Maplewood Police Department were alerted to a “disturbing video” that purportedly showed a man assaulting a young girl at a residence located in the 300 block of Dorland Drive, a short distance from Minneapolis. The individual who brought the footage to the attention of the authorities identified the man in the video as Raymond’s 25-year-old boyfriend, who lives with her.
Upon acquiring the video, law enforcement reviewed the footage. It allegedly reveals the boyfriend entering the girl’s room, masked and wearing boxing gloves that seemed to offer minimal protection. The affidavit describes the scene where, with a fully extended right arm, the man is seen punching the child in her right shoulder, followed quickly by blows with his left fist to her buttocks and another hit with his right fist to her arm.
“With a fully extended right arm, [the boyfriend] punched the child in the area of her right shoulder,” the affidavit says. “He immediately punched her again with his left fist in the buttocks and immediately again hits her with his right fist in the right arm.”
As the victim yelled “No!” and “Ow!” the boyfriend allegedly responded by screaming, “That’s for slamming your sister’s finger in the door, you hear me?”
The boyfriend allegedly hit the girl in the back of the head, forcing her to retreat to the back of the room and throw a blanket over her head. He then hit her several more times in the face while repeatedly asking if she “heard him.”
“We are clear, slam her hand in the door again n— and I’ll be over here, are we clear?” he allegedly said. “Are we clear? I don’t hear you loud enough, say it louder n—, don’t play with me bro, you’re lucky I beat your a— like that with gloves on n—, with physical fists right your a— would have been f—ed up!”
The boyfriend allegedly hit the child one more time in the ribs before leaving the room.
Police executing a search warrant on the home said the first floor of the house was in “complete disarray with animal fecal matter littering the floor throughout” and urine stains visible on the tiles. The kitchen was filled with dirty dishes and rotting food with officers noting that the refrigerator had a lock on the door.
“The top level of the home also had animal feces and multiple dark, wet spots on the carpet,” the affidavit states. “Garbage and clothing was littered everywhere. The toilet on the top level was not functional and contained a pile of human feces and urine. The bathroom closet contained additional animal feces on the floor and a box with feces was on a closet shelf. An open container of Enfamil baby formula was on the bathroom counter next to the toilet.”
The house was also allegedly filled with alcohol bottles and what appeared to be drug paraphernalia.
In an interview with detectives, Raymond “acknowledged awareness of the assault” on her daughter, saying “she was present and witnessed it,” the affidavit said. The mother allegedly said she had asked her boyfriend for help with disciplining the child, specifically stating that “she asked [the boyfriend] to assault [the victim].”
“She also acknowledged she helped [her boyfriend] with the plan to assault [the victim],” the document states. “Raymond said [her boyfriend] did not assault [the victim] to hurt her. The gloves were used because they were playing around and boxing.”
Raymond remains in the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center and is currently scheduled to appear in court for an omnibus hearing on Feb. 26.
Police did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Law&Crime regarding possible charges against the boyfriend, who, based on jail records, does not appear to have been arrested.