BY NATASHA ASHE AND JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

A 38-year-old Salisbury woman was charged with felony child abuse Tuesday afternoon, days after her two-month-old boy was admitted to a Charlotte hospital for skull fractures.

Connie Thompson, of 200 Barrier Lane, was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under $100,000 secured bond. Meanwhile, her infant son – Jessee – remains at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he’s recovering from complications from the injuries, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Jessee was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit last Thursday, and has shown some improvement since. The lasting effects of the injuries – such as the possibility of any brain damage – probably won’t be known until some time later.

Rowan Social Services workers gained custody of Jessee and his 3-year-old sibling last Thursday, the day he was admitted to the hospital, according to Sandra Wilkes, Social Services director. A report of possible abuse to Social Services triggered the investigation that led to Thompson’s arrest.

The warrant issued for Thompson’s arrest stated Thompson did ‘‘intentionally commit an assault that resulted in serious physical injury – multiple skull fractures – on Jessee Thompson.’’ Detective Tonya Rusher, who investigated the case for the Sheriff’s Department, said she couldn’t comment further on the specifics of the alleged abuse – such as how the injury was inflicted.

Detectives at the Sheriff’s Department are also investigating another possible child abuse case involving a month-old child. The child’s parents, Brian Wilcox and Karen Beaver, of 270 Beaver Loop Road, took the child to Rowan Regional Medical Center late Sunday night, where doctors treated the infant for a broken leg and bruises to the head, face and shoulders.

The infant is still in the hospital, and was taken into child protective custody Monday.

‘‘This family was not known to us,’’ Wilkes said.

Social Services took 11 children into custody last month and placed them in foster care as a result of investigations. There are currently 195 Rowan children in foster care.

Rowan Social Services fell under scrutiny after the abuse deaths of three young boys more than two years ago. Since then, the department has received an exemplary review from the N.C. Division of Social Services by implementing many of the state’s recommendations as well as its own plans for improvement.

The department has also hired several new workers to fill the vacancies that state officials believe contributed to the department’s negligence in 1997.

In 1998, 36 children died as a result of child abuse and more than 114,000 suspected child abuse and neglect cases were reported across the state.

Just last month, Gov. Jim Hunt started a ‘‘Safe Kids’’ initiative to prevent child abuse, build stronger families, educate the public on child abuse and find more foster and adoptive families.