Mother Charged with Lying About Daughter's Abuse

Exeter Police have made a second arrest in connection with the assault of a 3-year-old girl on Friday.

Stephanie Woodsum, 23, a transient originally from Somersworth, was arrested Monday for unsworn falsification for allegedly lying to police about the assault of her daughter last week. She is free on $25,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 8 in Exeter District Court in Brentwood.

On Friday, Exeter Police responded to investigate a report of a possible child abuse victim at the Exeter Hospital Emergency Unit. The mother of the 3-year-old girl had initially brought her in due to some visible problems with her eyes.

The mother, Woodsum, initially provided detectives with a recorded interview, which, throughout the course of the investigation, was found to have been comprised of information that was purposefully misleading to the case. 

Woodsum's boyfriend, Kevin J. Lynch, 27, a transient originally from Rochester, was arrested over the weekend on a felony count of first degree assault on a child. Lynch reportedly confessed to the assault, which contained periods of brief suffocation of the child. According to WMUR, it was revealed at Lynch's arraignment on Monday that he put the girl in a headlock after she wet the bed at a friend's house in Exeter.

Police said the Division of Children, Youth and Families has made arrangements for the safety of the child.