By Associated Press - Thursday, December 4, 2014

PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix woman has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term after previously pleading no contest to child abuse and sexual misconduct with a minor.

A Maricopa County Superior Court spokeswoman says Judge Sherry Stephens on Wednesday sentenced Rickesha Jovani Burns to 18 years in prison plus lifetime probation.

Phoenix police were called to a home on March 24, 2013 and found Burns holding her 2-year-old son.



They say the child was crying and bleeding.

Burns told police her son had been playing with a 12-year-old boy at a park and he had done something to the child.

Doctors said the child had injuries around his rectal area and he needed surgery to remove a foreign object.

Police say they found no evidence the child was assaulted at the park.

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