Bucks mother arrested for alleged child abuse

Her jaw was broken. Fractures lined her skull. Burns covered her thighs.

Two weeks shy of her first birthday, the girl had just arrived at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Social workers immediately placed the infant in foster care. But arresting the alleged abuser - her mother - took eight months.

At first, Ashley Reichard, 26, of Bristol Township, blamed the girl's father, police said. And then she allegedly pretended to have ovarian cancer, shaving her head and eyebrows and forging medical forms as a Bucks County grand jury investigated.

Bristol Township police broke through the alleged smokescreen Wednesday afternoon, arresting Reichard on charges of aggravated assault and perjury, both felonies. She remained in Bucks County prison Thursday, unable to post 10 percent of her $500,000 bail.

It's unclear if Reichard has obtained a lawyer. Reichard's mother, whom Reichard lived with, declined to comment.

The investigation began in July when Reichard's mother called police to report that the infant may have been abused and was en route with her mother to Children's Hospital. Social workers and police soon arrived.

The extent of the girl's injuries also included a broken thighbone and a ruptured eardrum.

During an interview, Reichard implicated the baby's father, saying the girl had been in his custody a few days before and was "not acting like herself" and "crying in a weird way" when Reichard picked her up, court records stated.

Police continued to investigate, and eventually a grand jury was impaneled. When police arrived in January to subpoena her, Reichard allegedly claimed to have stage two ovarian cancer. She had shaved off her hair and eyebrows and had forged letters that purported to be from the Fox Chase Cancer Center, although they lacked any letterhead or printed names to accompany the unreadable signatures, police said.

A doctor also determined that the child's injuries likely occurred during the time she was in Reichard's custody, police said.

"The defendant consistently misled and lied to investigators and other officers of the court in an attempt to gain sympathy for herself while falsely accusing another of causing the inflicted trauma to her daughter," court records stated.

Reichard also has a son, 4, who lives with her mother, court records stated.