While talking with a friend on a FaceTime call, a California man noticed something troubling. One of the women’s children had suspicious marks on his face and was crying. Isaiah Polk got off the call with Aleesha Ann Allen, 22, and called the Shasta County sheriff’s office, which conducted a welfare check at Allen’s home. Sadly, it seems Allen’s child was a victim of abuse.
According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, deputies arrived at a home on Hardenbrook Avenue about 11:15 a.m. on March 2, 2025. They reportedly saw Allen putting her 11-month-old son into a vehicle. “Deputies observed the juvenile and noticed facial injuries that appeared to be deliberately inflicted and consistent with child abuse,” the release explains.
Deputies interviewed Allen and another witness, which led to her arrest a short time later. Authorities booked her in the Shasta County Jail on a child abuse charge. She was placed in jail without bond. Emergency crews took her son to an area hospital for treatment and later released him to his family.
Polk told KCRC that Allen called him crying, and things didn’t seem right. The mother allegedly showed the child’s bruised face, which concerned him.
“It made me almost want to shed a tear. It was like, man, like… the way his face looked, he didn’t fall off a bed. Like there was a fist imprint,” Polk said.
Shasta County Emergencies and Crimes posted about the incident on Facebook, writing, “Let everyone give Isaiah Cortez Polk a huge thank you for seeing a child in danger and quickly bringing aid to him. This is the man that Aleesha Ann Allen was Facetiming Sunday who saw the hurt boy, took a screenshot, and got help immediately. THANK YOU ISAIAH! YOU’RE AMAZING!!!”
Many people praised Polk for his quick thinking and bravery.
One person wrote, “You saw something and said something. You were raised right!”
“Thank God for people like him! Bless his heart . We need more people like him in this world,” another person agreed.
A friend chimed in, writing, “H— ya Isaiah good looking out my friend your forever a hero to all of us. Thank you for saving that babies life he probably wouldn’t have survived the night with her.”
Isaiah commented as well, simply writing, “god bless you all!”
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.
