Woman convicted of assaulting daughter
Montco woman Cathleen J. Sola was convicted of a felony charge of aggravated assault.
NORRISTOWN >> Her extreme form of child discipline characterized by prosecutors as “heinous,” a former Rockledge woman was convicted of charges she heated a metal spoon and pressed it against the skin of her teenage daughter, causing the girl to suffer “blistering burns.”
“The defendant used a metal spoon that she heated over a gas stove top with an open flame and then pressed the spoon against the child’s skin and or struck her with the heated metal spoon on her skin approximately 10 to 12 times. It left second-degree burns on the child’s skin and caused the victim substantial pain,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Brittenburg said after Cathleen J. Sola was convicted of a felony charge of aggravated assault.
Sola, 38, formerly of the first block of South Sylvania Avenue, was convicted of the charge by Judge Wendy G. Rothstein during a nonjury trial at which Sola stipulated to certain facts contained in a police affidavit that outlined the May 2017 assault.
Rothstein will formally sentence Sola, most recently of Philadelphia, on the charge later this year. Sola faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 23 months in jail under an agreement reached between Brittenburg and defense lawyer David Lehman.
“Her conduct is heinous, there’s no other word for it,” said Brittenburg, referring to Sola. “She inflicted substantial physical pain and long term wounds that took a significant period of time to heal.”
Sola, authorities alleged, considered her conduct a form of discipline or punishment when the teenage girl couldn’t provide Sola with the password to a cellphone that was in the girl’s possession.
“Pennsylvania has a statute that recognizes that parents or guardians of minor children may use corporal punishment during a child’s upbringing. The law recognizes that, but there is a line that people can cross…there’s no question (Sola) obliterated that line when she heated a metal spoon and pressed it to (the victim’s) skin and then repeated that a dozen times,” Brittenburg alleged. “She burned her way through the line.”
The judge said Sola can remain free on bail until July 15 at which time she must surrender to the county jail where she will remain pending her sentencing hearing later this year.
The investigation began about 5:45 p.m. May 8, 2017, when Rockledge police were contacted by emergency room personnel at Holy Redeemer Hospital where the 14-year-old girl was being treated for burn injuries to multiple parts of her body.
“Emergency room staff members advised me that (the victim) has blistering burns to her arms, back and stomach,” Rockledge Detective Luke M. Lukashunas alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding the girl was “in a great deal of pain.”
The girl told detectives the assault occurred when Sola confronted the girl about having a cellphone and demanded the password to the phone, according to court documents.
The girl said she gave Sola a password but it did not unlock the phone.
Sola then “turned on the gas stove” and took a metal spoon from a cabinet.
“(The victim) described the spoon as having holes that appeared like flowers to allow liquid to drain through the spoon,” Lukashunas alleged, adding after several other failed attempts to unlock the phone Sola placed the metal spoon in the stove’s flame.
The victim told detectives Sola took the hot spoon and hit her once in the stomach and she observed her skin to begin peeling immediately, according to the criminal complaint.
“(The victim) said her mother then proceeded to burn her repeatedly following each attempted incorrect password entry,” Lukashunas alleged. “(The girl) said she was not only crying but huffing and breathing hard from the pain.”
During the assault, Sola allegedly told the girl, “I have no pity for you,” according to court papers.
The girl eventually fled from the home. A woman who was passing the home in a vehicle observed the victim on a porch and noticed the girl was in distress. When the girl indicated she needed help and displayed the burns on her stomach, the Good Samaritan took the girl to the hospital for medical treatment. Police were then contacted.
During the interview by detectives, the girl recounted other occasions when Sola allegedly struck her with an umbrella, an extension cord and a broom stick, according to the arrest affidavit.