JAMESTOWN, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A Jamestown woman was arrested Wednesday, October 3rd after allegedly striking her 13-year-old son with a cellphone, causing significant head injuries.

Patience Garjah, 38, was taken into custody after Jamestown police responded to a report of a child with a head injury at an apartment on October 1st.

According to court documents, the 13-year-old victim was found bleeding from his head with swelling above his right eye and a nosebleed. He told officers that his mother, Patience Garjah, hit him with a cellphone because he had taken it without permission.

Garjah admitted to hitting the child once in the back of the head with a cellphone after he “talked back” when confronted about the phone. However, she stated she did not know how the other injuries occurred.

Emergency Medical Service providers assessed the boy, reporting a several-inch laceration on his head, a low-grade concussion, and potentially more serious brain or skull injuries. EMS staff also indicated that due to the severity of the injury, permanent loss of function, impairment, or death could have resulted from the strike.

Medical providers at the hospital described the victim’s injuries as “disgusting” and “horrible,” expressing a level of outrage not previously observed in similar cases by the investigating officer. That officer also noted previous contacts with the victim reporting abuse from Garjah and his stepfather.

Garjah was arrested, and Child Protective Services arranged for the victim and three younger siblings (ages newborn, 1, and 4) to be placed with a family friend. The victim was treated at Jamestown Regional Medical Center, where doctors were preparing to staple his head wound.

Garjah is now charged with one count of felony child neglect or abuse and another count of child neglect.