Danae Goddard, a mother from Petoskey in Emmet County, is accused of abusing one of her children. Police say that her husband, the child’s father, apparently came into the local Michigan State Police post to file a report that his wife had abused one of their children.

 
In his report he detailed what had happened, saying that in attacking her child, she had punched him, and then also attempted to smother him with a pillow. Police arrived at the home and began investigating the situation.

 
The investigation revealed that Goddard had apparently punched the child in the stomach and also in the legs. She then held a pillow down over his face for a time, which has allegedly given him breathing troubles as a result. Also, the alleged abuse apparently took place in front of another child.

 
Goddard has been arrested and charged with three counts of second degree child abuse. The Michigan penal code describes second degree child abuse as “a person’s reckless act (that) causes serious physical harm or serious mental harm to a child.”

 
Under Michigan law, this is a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison, assuming that this is a first offense. In the event that the crime is a subsequent offense, the maximum is raised to twenty years.

 
Thus far there is no information available regarding what may have led to this particular incident, who the child was that witnessed the attack, or even how old the child was at the time of the attack. Goddard is currently in jail for allegedly attacking her child, and the situation is still being investigated by police.

 
If her next court date has been scheduled in the Emmet County Circuit Court, it has not yet been made public.