Jury finds McCool woman not guilty
of Child Abuse

YORK, NE  –  A York County jury has found a McCool Junction woman not guilty of child abuse.

Ashley A. Eckard, 29, was charged with committing child abuse intentionally/no injury, a Class 3A felony.

Now that she has been found not guilty, the charge has been dismissed.

According to court documents, it was alleged that she burned an 8-year-old child on the hand with a lit cigarette.

According to the affidavit filed with the court, the child told investigators with Health and Human Services and the York County Sheriff’s Department that Eckard intentionally burned her three times.

The child said when she told Eckard she was going to tell other adults what happened, Eckard allegedly grabbed her by the ear and instructed her to say she had gotten hurt sliding down a slide on a bouncy house – according to the court documents.

The sheriff’s department’s investigator said he observed three burns on the child’s hand that were approximately the same size as a cigarette, in his reporting for the affidavit.

The jury was convened, a trial was held and the jury came back with the verdict of not guilty.