A Utah mother is facing charges, including child torture, after her infant was found with serious injuries. Lizbeth Hurtado-Breton allegedly told her husband that she was trying to help her daughter feel better, but her decision resulted in the child being hospitalized, putting her on law enforcement’s radar. The father of Hurtado-Breton’s child revealed that many of her actions were the result of gender disappointment. Knowing what she did to her child, regardless of why, is hard to read.
On September 30, 2025, officers from the Unified Police Department were called by the Division of Child and Family Services after a 4-month-old girl was taken to a local children’s hospital with severe burns on her face, KSL.com reported.
“The child also has several bone fractures and a brain bleed and several other injuries in different phases of healing,” the police booking affidavit read.
When speaking with a caseworker, the child’s father said that her mother, 36-year-old Hurtado-Breton, “was trying to do a home remedy on the 4-month-old when she received burns on her face.” According to the affidavit, Hurtado-Breton “held the baby over steam, then wiped the baby’s face with a napkin, which wiped off skin,” the father explained.
The father also reported that he came home from work one time and “found tape covering the baby’s mouth.” When he asked the girl’s mother what was going on, she explained that “she would not stop crying,” KSL.com reported. Another time, he came home from work to find the baby’s arms taped behind her back “so the baby would eat,” the affidavit said. There was also another instance where he witnessed the woman shoving a bottle into the baby’s mouth, causing her to choke.
According to the arrest report, the father was able to provide video and photo evidence of the abuse.
“The father stated Lizbeth wished the baby would have been a boy and believes this is why Lizbeth has been so awful to the baby and not awful to the older siblings,” the report reads.
When questioned by police, Hurtado-Breton said her hands felt “very hot” when she was holding the baby over the steam, per KSL.com. However she “did not think” about how the steam would have felt on the baby’s face.
The arresting officer said that when they questioned Hurtado-Breton about shaking the baby or yanking her from her cradle, she said she “couldn’t remember,” KUTV reported. She has been charged with first-degree felony child torture and two first-degree felonies of aggravated child abuse intentionally or knowingly.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
