AUSTIN — The mother of a badly injured 18-month-old gave birth last week to a boy, who is in the custody of Mower County Human Services.

Kim Heang Sean, 21, faces the termination of her parental rights for allegedly failing to protect her 18-month-old daughter, who suffered “suspicious injuries,” including liver lacerations, spleen damage, pancreatic trauma and several fractures in the last year.

The Mower County Sheriff’s office has not charged anybody yet for the baby’s injuries, though Sheriff Terese Amazi said the case is still under investigation.

Sean’s new baby boy is in an undisclosed foster home, and MCHS is petitioning for child protective services for the infant. The petition was filed in Mower County District Court on Thursday.

In court Monday, attorney Dan Donnelly, on behalf of Sean, entered a denial to three allegations that Sean and the boy’s father are unable to provide appropriate care for their child.

Francisco Elizondo, the boy’s father, is scheduled to appear in court to either admit or deny the allegations once he has an attorney. Elizondo is not the father of the 18-month-old.

Assistant Mower County Attorney Aaron Jones requested that Sean not be allowed contact with the baby boy at this time. Donnelly, however, asked if Sean could have minimal supervised visits.

“There should be no contact with this mother with either child,” Jones said.

District Judge Fred Wellmann asked Jones if MCHS is trying to prevent the mother from bonding with the baby, and guardian ad litem Alice Snater said the new baby has experienced in-utero stress from the mother’s alleged abuse of the 18-month-old.

“This baby suffered … in-utero because of (Sean’s) several temper tantrums,” Snater said. “I am not comfortable at all with contact at this point, with the baby and with the little girl.”

Donnelly said the goal of providing child protective services for the baby is to reunify him with Sean, so some contact would be appropriate.

Wellmann took the request for contact under advisement and said he will issue a decision in about a week.

As well as requesting supervised visits, Donnelly asked that MCHS consider Sean’s sister, who lives in Washington state, as a possible placement option.