Mom blames boyfriend for girl’s death

DOVER, N.H. – A mother charged with not protecting her daughter from fatal abuse told police that her boyfriend was responsible for the toddler’s death, a Maine State Police detective testified Thursday.

Detective Angela Blodgett interviewed Amanda Bortner twice on the day 21-month-old Kassidy died in November 2000 and twice in the following weeks.

At Bortner’s trial on child endangerment charges, Blodgett referred to transcripts of those interviews, saying Bortner told her that if Kassidy died of head injuries, Chad Evans was responsible for her death.

Evans is serving 28 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder last December. Bortner faces up to two years in jail if convicted on misdemeanor child endangerment charges.

In the days after the toddler’s death, Bortner told police Evans had been abusing her daughter for more than a month. But at his trial, she backed off her earlier claims and implicated Kassidy’s baby sitter.

Blodgett testified that Bortner gave her a detailed description of how Evans abused the girl, however.

“She described to me how he would pick up Kassidy by the arm and-or by the face and throw her into the corner hard enough that she would hit her head sometimes,” Blodgett said.

Also testifying Thursday was Melissa Chick of Sanford, Maine, who said she saw bruises on Kassidy many times after Bortner started living with Evans.