By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A Cedar City woman arrested on felony charges for allegedly abusing an elderly family member in her care had several additional charges filed just three days after she was taken to jail as police continued investigating the case.
Olivia Matthis, 46, was arrested July 12 and booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility on felony charges including aggravated assault and intentional aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult. The charges stemmed from two alleged incidents on July 11 and July 12.
Three days later, Iron County Sheriff’s detectives filed additional misdemeanor charges alleging Matthis assaulted the vulnerable adult and struck a child during a separate July 4 incident.
According to charging documents, investigators allege Matthis was the primary caretaker for the elderly victim and that the assaults occurred while Matthis was intoxicated.
During the July 11 incident, deputies say Matthis struck the victim in the head with several objects, including an unopened can of corn, causing injuries to the head, face, shoulder and elbow. Authorities also allege Matthis verbally berated the victim during the assault.
Matthis reportedly assaulted the victim again the following day, striking the same injured shoulder with a folder before deputies arrested Matthis on the felony charges.
After being taken into custody Matthis told deputies she was highly intoxicated and admitted she had been drinking throughout the day, the affidavit states.
The additional charges stem from a Children’s Justice Center interview conducted after a child reported witnessing an earlier incident on July 4.
According to court documents, the child told police Matthis repeatedly struck the elderly victim while they were riding in a vehicle and later slapped the child.
Detectives interviewed Matthis at the Iron County Jail on July 13 where she denied the July 11 and July 12 assaults and disputed the July 4 allegations, claiming the injuries were caused by the victim’s clumsiness.